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MANHATTAN 

HISTORIC AND ARTISTIC 

A SIX DAY TOUR OF NEW YORK CITY 



BY 

COROLYN FAVILLE OBER 

AND 

CYNTHIA M. WESTOVER ) Alde-n 









■» /8S2 * 



/3yTX 



NEW YORK 

LOVELL. CORYELL & COMPANY 

43, 45 AND 47 EAST TENTH STREET 



\n. 



^ s^^v ■ 



Copyright, iSgs, 

BY 

COROLYN FAVILLE OBER 

AND 

CYNTHIA M. WESTOVER 






PREFACE 



It has not been the intention of the authors 
of this book to compile a dictionary or a direc- 
tory of the City of New York, but to provide, 
in as attractive a literary form as the nature 
of the work would permit, a guide-book that 
should economize time for the sightseer by 
its presentment, in orderly sequence, of the 
best that the city contains. 

Although special attention has been paid to 
the historic and artistic features of the metrop- 
olis, its educational, commercial, municipal, 
philanthropic, and charitable institutions have 
each been represented, as has also its social life, 
and even its squalor, thus making a description 
of New York in its complex entirety. 

The time-table and itinerary is permissive, 
not mandatory — to make use of a legal expres- 
sion — and will serve to give an idea of the pro- 
portionate amount of time required to visit 
each object of interest, or to go from one place 
to another. It is absolutely reliable, every 

iii 



IV PREFACE. 

foot of the ground having been gone over and 
the time carefully registered. The variations 
to which such a table is likely to be subjected 
are so slight as to make no material difference, 
the length of the days in the summer or winter 
seasons, or the temporary closing of an art gal- 
lery, being about the only changes that are 
likely to occur. The hours when visitors are 
admitted to different institutions are always 
mentioned, and calculated for in the itinerary. 

Sightseers will find their efforts greatly 
facilitated by reading the book before under- 
taking to follow any of the routes mapped out 
for them. Alany places not indicated in the 
time-table, but described in the text, are too 
interesting to be passed by unobserved, and 
they may be of sufficient importance to some 
individuals to induce a change of plan. Plain 
directions accompanying each description will 
enable the stranger to avoid mistakes. 

As the routes are plainly marked on the 
maps it will be seen that w^hoever takes this 
book as a guide will be safely chaperoned. It 
should therefore be considered a valuable 
aid to residents who are unable to devote 
their time to conducting guests about the 
city. 

The work also aims to be a serviceable book 
of reference. As a Primer of the History of 



PRE FA CE. V 

New York it is a condensed compilation of the 
best authorities, and brings the past into a jux- 
taposition with the present that makes every 
locality vital and instructive with its report of 
progress. 

To the courtesy which the authors invariably 
have received from historians, librarians, offi- 
cials, and other persons to whom they have 
applied for information or special privileges, 
the possibility of inaugurating a successful 
career for this work is largely due. It is now 
the pleasant duty of the writers to acknowledge 
this indebtedness. 

C. F. O. 
C. M. W. 



TIME-TABLE AND ITINERARY. 







THE FIRST MORNING. 


DESCRIPTION 










PAGE 


9- 


A.M. 


Battery Terminus. 




1-7 


9-25 


(( 


Fraunce's Tavern. 


. 


. 7-8 


9-50 


" 


Produce Exchange. 




lO-II 


I0.20 


(( 


Trinity Church. 


. 


13-16 


10.40 


« 


Stock Exchange. . 




17 


10.50 


« 


Wall Street. 


. 


16-21 


ir. 


'• 


Assay Office. 




18 


II. 15 


" 


Treasury Building. . 


. 


18-21 


11.40 


(( 


Equitable Building. 




22 


12. 


M. 


Luncheon at the Cafe 
Equitable Building. 


Savarin 


in the 



THE FIRST AFTERNOON. 

5 P.M. "The Russian Wedding Feast," a Picture 

exhibited at No. 24 John Street 25-25 



145 " 


St. Paul's. . 


26-27 


1.55 " 


City Hall Pakk. 


30-32 


2.10 " 


The Governor's Room. . 


31 


2.35 " 


Pulitzer Building. . 


33-34 


3-05 " 


Frankfort Street. 


36 


3-35 " 


Brooklyn Bridge. 


36 


4.20 " 


Broadway Cars. . 


39 


445 " 


Denning's, formerly a. T. Stewart's, 




Dry Goods Store. 


. 40-41 


5-15 " 


Grace Church. 


. 42 



THE SECOND MORNING. 

9. A.M. "After the Hunt," a picture exhibited 

AT No. 8 Warren Street. . 44 

9.35 " Park Row. . . . . -45 

9.45 " Chatham Square. . . . 45-46 



TIME-TABLE AND ITINERARY. 



9 55 
10.40 

11-35 
11.45 



The Second Morning— Continued. description 

PAGE 

The Five Points House of Industry. 46-47 
The Tombs. .... 4'-49 

MoTT Street. . . . 49-5<^ 

Elevated Railway Station at Chatham 
Square. 



12.10 


P.M 


12.45 


" 


2. 




2.40 




2-55 




315 




3-45 




4.15 





THE SECOND AFTERNOON. 
The Astor Library. . . 51-5- 

LUNCHEON AT VIENNA BaKERY, CORNER OF 

Broadway and Tenth Street. 

Cooper Union. .... 56-58 

Stuyvesant Square. . . 62-64 

Union Square. .... 66-69 

Macy's. ..... 69-71 

Young Women's Christian Association. 72 

Tiffany's. .... 72-75 



THE THIRD MORNING. 

9. A.M. Art Room of J. H. Johnston's Jewelry 

Store. ..... 76-78 

9.35 " " Choosing THE Bride," a painting exhib- 
ited AT Schumann's Jewelry Store. 78 
10.15 " Gramercy Park. .... 78-79 

10.30 " Rooms of the Associated Artists. 80-8 1 

11.05 " Academy of Design. . . . 81-83 



THE THIRD AFTERNOON. 

1. P.M. Luncheon at Delmonico's, corner of 

Fifth Avenue and 26th Street. 

2. '* American Art Galleries. 
3.15 " Madison Square 
3.30 " Coupil's Art Gallery. . 
4. " Works of Art in the Hoffman House 
4.50 " Broadway cars, going northward. . 



84 
84-86 

89 
90-92 
92-94 



TIME-TABLE AND ITINERARY. ix 

THE FOURTH MORNING. description 

PAGE 

9. A.M. Fourth Avenue CARS AT Union Square, 95-101 
9.25 " A Tour in 66th Street, to Third Avenue. 

101-102 
Third Avenue to 67TH Street. . 102 

67TH Street to Lexington Avenue. 102-103 
Lexington Avenue to 6Sth Street, 103 

68th Street to Fourth Avenue. . 103 

Fourth Avenue to 720 Street, 103-104 

72D Street to Fifth Avenue. . . 104 

10. " Lenox Library. . . . 104-107 

11. " Fifth Avenue Stage. . . 107-109 
II. 1 5 " St. Patrick's Cathedral. . 109-111 
11.35 " Fifth Avenue Stage. . . 111-119 

12. M. Washington Square. . . 119-123 

THE FOURTH AFTERNOON. 

12.30 P.M. Luncheon at the St. Denis Hotel, cor- 
ner of iith Street and Broadway. 

THE DRIVE. . . 124-133 

2. " "The Circle," corner of 59TH Street 
AND Eighth Avenue. — Boulevard to 
I lOTH Street. — i ioth Street to Morn- 
ingside Avenue-West. — M o r n i n g- 
side Avenue West to 1220 Street. — 
Amsterdam, or Tenth Avenue, to 142D 
Street. — 142D Street to Convent 
Avenue, — Convent Avenue to 143D 
Street. — 143D Street to the Boule- 
vard, or Eleventh Avenue. — Boule- 
vard to i6rsT Street. — Sr, Nicholas 
Avenue to iSist Street. — iSist 
Street to Washington Bridge. — 
Sedgewick Avenue to McComb's 
Dam, or Central Bridge, — Seventh 
Avenue to 145TH Street. — 45TH 
Street to Boulevard. — Boulevard 



TIME-TABLE AND ITINERARY. 



The Fourth Afternoon— Continued, description 

VAGE 

TO 131ST Street. — 131ST Street to 
Twelfth Avenue. — Twelfth Avenue 
to Riverside Park. — Riverside Drive. 



THE FIFTH MORNING. 
central park. 
9. A.M. The Zoological Gardens, corner of 

64TH Street and Fifth Avenue. . 137 
9.30 " Mall and Terrace. . . . 138-142 

10. " Park Phaeton at Terrace. . 142-143 

10.15 " The American Museum of Natural His- 
tory. ..... 143-153 

11.45 " Park Phaeton. . . • 153-^54 

12. M. Luncheon in Central Park at McGow- 

an's Pass Tavern. 
THE FIFTH AFTERNOON. 

1. P.M. Points of Historical Interest. McGow- 

an's Pass, Block House, etc. . 155-157 

2. " Park Phaeton. . . . 157-158 
2.15 " The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 158-172 
5. " Park Phaeton. .... 172 

THE SIXTH MORNING. 

the islands. 
9. A.M. Bedloe's, or Liberty, Island . 174-177 

10.30 " Ellis Island. .... 177-179 

11.30 " Governor's Island. . . . 179-181 

THE SIXTH AFTERNOON. 
12.30 P.M. Luncheon at Delmonico's, junction of 

Beaver and William Streets. 
2. " Boat for Glen Island leaves pier at 
the foot of Cortlandt Street for 
A sail on the East River, passing 
Blackwell's, Ward's, and Randall's 
Islands. .... 182-194 



MANHATTAN 



CHAPTER I. 

THE FIRST MORNING. — THE BATTERY. 

Dutch Occupation. — Within the region of 
the little park which is situated at the southern 
extremity of the city are clustered many of 
the most interesting- associations of the past. 
In 1626 Manhattan Island was purchased by the 
Dutch West India Company from the Indians 
for beads, buttons, and trinkets, equivalent 
in value to about tw^enty-four dollars. A 
blockhouse having been erected as a fortifica- 
tion, the settlers, who soon came from Holland, 
formed about it a little colony w^hich they 
called New Amsterdam. The fortress, w^hich 
was named Fort Amsterdam and inhabited by 
Dutch governors for over fifty years, stood 
on the spot now occupied by the, steamship 
offices opposite Bowling Green, — the water 
edge being then nearer than at present. 

As at this time Manhattan Island was within 



2 MANHATTAN. 

the limits of the northern colony of Virginia, 
it belonged in reality to the British crown, but 
its possession was not disputed until the year 
1664, w^hen Charles the Second granted to his 
brother, the Duke of York and Albany, terri- 
tory now comprising the States of New York, 
New Jersey, and Delaware. Immediately after 
the transfer of this property the new owner 




THE OLD FORT AT THE BATTERY. 

dispatched troops who forced the Dutch gov- 
ernor (Stuyvesant) to surrender, — when the 
name of the colony was changed to New York 
in honor of the conqueror. From this time 
Manhattan Island was alternately in the hands 
of the Dutch and the English until 1691, when 
Great Britain regained possession and remained 
in power during the interval that preceded 
the Revolution. 



MANHATTAN. 3 

British Occupation. — This peaceful epoch 
constituted the golden age of colonial history. 
As late as the year 1 700, there were but three 
hundred houses on this portion of the Island, 
and on moonless nights the streets were lighted 
by lanterns, containing candles, hung on a pole 
from the window of every seventh house. The 
region of the Battery was the court end of the 
town, where the English governors and their 
suites, together with wealthy Dutch families, 
formed a circle famous for its culture, wit, and 
beauty. During this regime the etiquette of 
foreign courts was punctiliously observed. 

American Occupation. — After the estab- 
lishment of American independence the old 
fort was torn down, and a mansion, intended 
as a residence for the President, was built upon 
its site ; but as this edifice was not completed 
until after the removal of the capital from New 
York, it was never occupied by the President, 
but became the gubernatorial residence until 
the retirement of John Jay. After this time 
the apartments were used as offices until the 
mansion was replaced by the six dwelling- 
houses that still remain. 

In 1805, a new fort, erected at a little dis- 
tance from the old site, was named Fort Clin- 
ton, but its shape gave it the popular soubri- 
quet of " Castle." As originally built, the fort 



4 MANHA TTAN, 

was separated from the mainland by a strip of 
water, bridged by a draw. It was a circular 
building of solid stone masonry, the walls of 
which were in some places thirty feet thick, 
mounted with barbette and casement guns, 
and regarded as a triumph of skill and solidity, 
although against modern guns it would have 
been a mere egg-shell. As the chief defence 
of the City of New York, it was liberally armed 
and garrisoned by the Government. 

When in 1814, the blockade which the Eng- 
lish had established at the southern ports 
became extended along the coast, the possibil- 
ity of a naval attack caused the citizens of New 
York to erect works on Brooklyn Heights, on 
the islands in the bay, along the shores of the 
lower bay, and at different points on the Hud- 
son and East Rivers ; thus making Fort Clinton 
practically useless for military purposes. It 
was therefore not long before Government 
deeded the property to the State, since which 
time it has been called Castle Garden, and has 
been used for civic purposes only. 

Castle Garden. — After the fort and the 
surrounding grounds became state property, 
the whole aspect of the place was changed. 
Groves of trees were planted, and the parks 
thus made became the favorite resort of the 
fashionable. Elegant mansions occupied the 



MANHA TTAN. 5 

whole of State Street, some of which remain, 
shorn of balconies and piazzas and giving little 
evidence of their former grandeur. From the 
windows of these residences were witnessed 
the pageants occasioned by the inauguration 
Oi Washington, and the opening of the Erie 
Canal, — when De Witt Clinton, with great 
solemnity, poured the waters from Lake Erie 
into those of the bay. Whitehall Street also 
was lined with stately homes, but a great fire 
swept them all away. On festive occasions 
the trees in front of the drawbridge were 
lighted with colored lamps, and the draw was 
decorated with bunting, while bird-cages and 
hanging baskets were hung in the casements. 
Brilliant receptions were held within the for- 
tress in honor of Lafayette, President Jackson, 
President Tyler, and Henry Clay. At the 
landing a funeral cortege met the remains of 
John Quincy Adams. In 1850 a great union 
meeting was here addressed by Henry Clay, 
General Cass, Daniel Webster, R. C.Winthrop, 
and Ogden Hoffman. Indeed, all mass meet- 
ings and celebrations assembled at this place 
until the uptown movement made New Yorkers 
require more central accommodations. 

In 1847 Castle Garden was fitted up as a 
theatre and opera-house, and its stage was the 
gcene of Jenny Lind's triumph three years 



6 MANHA TTAN. 

later. The Julien Concerts and the voice of 
Madame Son tag made the year 1852 an equally 
memorable one in the annals of its musical 
history. 

In 1855 a great change occurred in this his- 
toric building; it was then leased to the 
State Board of Emigration, and used as a 
landing-depot for immigrants. Government 
recently having taken to itself the duty of re- 
ceiving this class of foreigners, has constructed 
more elaborate accommodations for them on 
Ellis Island, and the fate of Castle Garden is 
therefore at this time uncertain. It is now 
temporarily utilized by the Free Labor Bureau, 
— an institution maintained by the German 
and Irish Emigration Societies. 

The Battery at the Present Time. — 
Shipping and warehouses, business offices, etc. 
now surround the park on the land side, almost 
obliterating the historic landmarks. The ter- 
mini of all elevated roads, and the Broadway 
and Belt Line surface cars, are at the southern 
extremity, where are also ferries to Brooklyn, 
Staten Island, Coney Island, Governor's Island, 
and Bedloe's Island. The granite structure 
near by, w4th a tower ninety feet in height, 
containing a flash light, is the United States 
Barge Office, — a building intended to accom- 
modate the Surveyor of the Port. Floating 



MAiVHA TTAN. 7 

bath-houses, that furnish free bathing facili- 
ties during the warm season, are moored to 
the Battery walls. A statue of Captain John 
Ericsson soon is to be placed in this park, 
where it will face the incoming steamers. 

Points of Interest between the Bat- 
tery AND Bowling Green. — The first Cus- 
tom House, erected during the administration 
of Peter Stuyvesant, stood at the corner of 
State and Whitehall Streets. In Pearl Street, 
between State and Whitehall, stood the first 
church and parsonage of New Amsterdam, 
surrounded by the walls of the fort. South of 
this, in Whitehall Street, the United States 
Army Building rears an imposing front. 

The old Fraunce's Tavern still stands at 
the southeastern corner of Pearl and Broad 
Streets. This building, originally the home 
of Etienne De Lancey, — the father of the lieu- 
tenant-governor, — was converted into an inn 
after the owner had built a more palatial resi- 
dence in Broadway. The "great room"of the 
establishment once was utilized as a Chamber of 
Commerce, and in it occurred the closing scene 
of the Revolution, — the parting of Washing- 
ton with his officers, previous to the surrender 
of his commission to the Continental Congress. 
The supreme moment had arrived when these 
brothers-in-arms, whose mutual efforts and 



8 M ANITA TTAN. 

sufferings had achieved a sublime victory, 
must part from their leader and from each 
other. Filling a glass with wine, Washington 
said to his officers: "With a heart full of 
love and gratitude I now take leave of you, 
and most devoutly wish that your latter days 
may be as prosperous and happy as your former 
ones have been glorious and honorable. I 
cannot come to each of you to take my leave, 
but I shall be obliged if each one will come 
and take my hand." Each embraced him in 
turn, too much overcome with emotion for 
speech, after which the General silently with- 
drew from the room and entered a barge which 
awaited him at the foot of Whitehall Street. 
The room hallowed by this memorable event 
is still preserved. Relics of the past adorn its 
walls, and an old table is shown which is sup- 
posed to have been one of the original articles 
of furniture. The building has several times 
been repaired, but some of the Holland bricks 
are still visible in the walls, while others of 
them are collected in the cellar and are iriven 
to relic-himters by the obliging proprietor. 

During the latter half of the last century a 
Royal Exchange for Merchants stood at the 
foot of Broad Street. This curiously con- 
structed building consisted of one large room 
supported by arches= 



MAN HA TTAN. 9 

In State Street, near the corner of Bridge 
Street, the home of Washington Irving, and 
the famous Knickerbocker inn of Peter Bayard, 
were situated. 

Bowling Green. — The encircled space at 
the foot of Broadway has been known as 
" Bowling Green" ever since the early days 
when it was a market-place in front of the 
fort, and a field for the sports of Dutch lads 
and lassies. 

Here was the scene of the riot of 1765, when 
the " Sons of Liberty" opposed the Stamp Act, 
burning the effigy of the English governor, 
and castino: his coach into a bonfire that had 
been made of a wooden fence which then sur- 
rounded the Green. When the cities of the 
colony afterward united to form a Stamp-Act 
Congress, and thus secured the repeal of this 
obnoxious law, the gratitude of the citizens in- 
duced them to erect a leaden equestrian statue 
of George the Third upon the centre of the 
Green. This was pulled down in 1776, at the 
time of the reading of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, and was afterward melted into bul- 
lets and used for the defence of American 
liberty. The iron balls with which the pickets 
of the fence surrounding the statue had been 
decorated were at the same time taken for 
cannon-shot. 



lo MANHATTAN. 

Another event which marked the fame of 
this locality was the parade of 1788, on the 
occasion of the adoption of the Constitution by 
New York State. This was the first important 
pageant ever seen in America, and in it every 
class of the population appeared, even the 
most noted personages. The President and 
members of Congress, while watching the pro- 
cession from the walls of the fort, were saluted 
with a salvo of thirteen guns from a float rep- 
resenting a Federal ship, emblazoned with the 
name of Alexander Hamilton, and manned by 
thirty sailors, with a full complement of officers. 

In 1789 the face of the first President of the 
Republic appeared on a huge transparency 
which adorned the Green on the evening of 
his inauguration. 

A fountain and flower-beds inclosed with 
an iron railing now occupy this historical site. 

Lower Broadway from Bowling Green 
TO Trinity Church. — East of Bowling Green, 
the first object which attracts attention is the 
Produce Exchange, a magnificent structure of 
granite, terra-cotta, and red brick, and one of 
the finest specimens of architecture in New 
York, the style being a modification of Italian 
Renaissance. The gallery is open to visitors 
during the hours of exchange — from 10 a.m. 
until 3 P.M. — and the clock-tower, or campa- 



MANHATTAN. ii 

nile, from which a beautiful view of the city 
and bay may be obtained, is accessible, when 
tickets are procured from the superintendent, 
at all times, except Saturdays, in the afternoon, 
and Sundays. From the corner of Beaver 
Street may be seen a portion of the Cotton 
Exchange, — a handsome edifice of yellow 
brick with stone facings. 

The Washington Building, at the corner 
of Battery Place and Broadwa}^ is a gigantic 
structure twelve stories in height, which was 
erected by Cyrus W. Field. The detail of its 
architectural plan is crude French Renaissance. 
This side of Broadway was once occupied by 
the residences of wealthy and famous persons. 

The Kennedy House, built in 1760 by 
Archibald Kennedy, Collector of the Port, 
stood at the corner. It was a spacious and ele- 
gant mansion situated in the midst of beauti- 
ful grounds that extended to the water's edge. 
General Putnam made this house his head- 
quarters previous to the battle of Long Island ; 
and it was also occupied at various times by 
Lord Cornwallis, Lord Howe, Sir Henry Clin- 
ton, and Talleyrand. Here Benedict Arnold 
arranged his conspiracy against his country ; 
and from here Washington witnessed the de- 
parture of the British troops. In its later 
years this residence was converted into the 



12 MAXHATTAN. 

Washington Hotel. The second house was a 
spacious, old-time edifice, built and originally 
occupied by the Honorable John Watts. It is 
also said to have been the home of Benedict 
Arnold and Robert Fulton. Next was the 
residence of Judge Robert R. Livingston, and 
afterward of his son, Chancellor Livingston. 
From here Washington viewed the fireworks 
on his inaugural night. The fourth house, 
No. 7, the only relic of former times which 
remains standing in this vicinity, was the in- 
teresting home of John Stevens, — the inventor 
and builder of the first steamship that ever 
ploughed the ocean. Nos. 9 and 1 1 were con- 
nected houses, afterward converted into the 
Atlantic Garden, the site of which originally 
was occupied by the tavern of a Dutch burgo- 
master, Martin Cregier. 

The Welles Building, No. 18, stands at 
the opposite side of the street. Just beyond, 
at No. 26, is the imposing pile built and occu- 
pied by the Standard Oil Company. This 
edifice, like many of our buildings, possesses 
no definite style; indeed, the variety that is 
to be found in nearly every architectural 
structure in the city may be said to form a 
composite that is distinctly American, — it 
being almost impossible to preserve a pure 
historic style and meet modern requirements. 



MANHATTAN. 13 

Aldrich Court, at No. 45, is a sort of mod- 
ernized Romanesque. 

The Consolidated Stock and Petroleum 
Exchange, at tlie corner of Exchange Place 
and Broadway, is a crude conglomeration in 
design. Visitors are admitted to the gallery 
of this building, from 10 a.m. until 3 P.M., 
to watch the buying and selling of oil, mining, 
and railroad stocks. 

No. 41 Broadway is the place where stood 
the first habitations erected by white men on 
Manhattan Island. The McComb Mansion 
occupied the site in later years, w^here lived 
the French minister during the early part of 
the first administration, and where Washing- 
ton subsequently resided for a few months 
previous to the removal of the capital to Phil- 
adelphia. 

Trinity Church. — The conspicuous brown 
stone edifice which next challenges attention 
is "Old Trinity," one of the most interesting 
landmarks in New York, and the established 
head of the Episcopal church in this country. 
With the exception of the Dutch Reformed 
Collegiate Corporation, it is the oldest church 
organization in the United States, — Episcopacy 
having become the leading religious system 
under the royal government. Trinity Church 
originally was erected in 1696, — a grant of 



T4 MAN- HA TTAN. 

land having- been obtained from William and 
Mary, to be located "in or near to a street 
without the north gate of the city, commonly 
called Broadway." In 1703 the parish was fur- 
ther enriched by Queen Anne with a gift of 
the "King's Farm," a district including about 
thirty blocks in the immediate vicinity. Be- 
cause the clergy persisted in reading the 
prayer for the king, the church was closed at 
the outbreak of the Revolution, and it was 
destroyed by fire soon afterward. In 1790 a 
new structure was erected, in which a richly 
ornamented and canopied pew was dedicated 
to the President of the United States, and an- 
other was reserved for the Governor of New 
York. The second edifice was pulled down in 
1839, when the present handsome specimen of 
Gothic architecture was erected on its site. 

The church doors always stand invitingly 
open. Chimes in the belfry chant the hours. 
Inside, carved Gothic columns support a 
groined roof. The reredos, which is a me- 
morial to William B. Astor, erected by his 
sons, is a perfect flower-garden of architect- 
ural art, composed of marbles, Caen stones, 
and mosaics of glass and precious stones. The 
middle panel of the altar is made up of a Mal- 
tese cross, in the four arms of which are cut 
cameos representing symbols of the Evangel- 



MANHATTAN. 1 5 

ists. while at the intersection of the arms is a 
delicately outlined bust of the Saviour. A 
ring of lapis lazuli encircles the cross, in which 
are set chrysoprase and carbuncles. Rays are 
formed of red and white tufa, with gold as an 
enrichment, and the whole is framed with a 
rich carving of passion flowers. At each side 
are kneeling angels, carved in white marble, 
framed by red Lisbon marble shafts, with 
white marble carved capitals and divisional 
bands. The side panels are very beautiful, but 
somewhat less elaborate. The carved panels 
above the altar line represent scenes in the 
life of Christ, the middle one being a fine ren- 
dering of Leonardo da Vinci's " Last Supper." 
Statuettes of the Apostles, separated by red 
granite columns, occupy the next line, with a 
large triangular carving of the Crucifixion. 
An elaborately carved course of natural foli- 
age, with birds and flowers, forms the cor- 
nice, which is broken in the middle by a gable 
completed by a plain cross. The four but- 
tresses are surmounted w^ith pinnacles of rich 
carving that support angels with uplifted 
wings, the treatment being similar to Fra 
Angelico. The wdiole design is in keeping 
-with the characteristics of the church, the style 
being the perpendicular Gothic of the four- 
teenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries. 



1 6 MANHATTAN. 

The last record of many names illustrious in 
history may be found in the graveyard sur- 
rounding the church. Near the left entrance 
is the monument to Captain Lawrence. The 
tomb of Alexander Hamilton is near the Rector 
Street railing. Just west of it is the vault of 
Robert Livingston, in which also reposes the 
body of Robert Fulton. In the northeastern 
corner is a monument which was erected by 
Trinity Corporation in honor of the heroes 
who died in the British prisons. Near by are 
graves that date back to the first church, and 
in close proximity to the railing is a flat stone 
marked "Charlotte Temple," the unfortunate 
woman whose sad history is told in the novel 
which bears her name. 

Trinity Corporation supports six chapels and 
numerous parochial schools and charities. It 
always has been munificent in its liberality to 
public and private interests. Its property is 
very valuable, the income derived from it be- 
ing about half a million dollars per annum. 

Wall Street. — Directly opposite Trinity 
Ch-urch is a street which contains almost as 
many associations as the localities previously 
described, even its name having been derived 
from the fact that a protecting wall, which de- 
fined the northern boundary of the city, once 
followed its course. Elegant residences lined 



MANHATTAN. 1 7 

the street in later days, that subsequently gave 
place to government buildings and the financial 
institutions that, since the civil war, have be- 
come world-famous through the extent of their 
transactions. 

The massive and imposing buildings that 
now stand at the south side of the street are 
the United Bank Building, at the corner of 
Broadway, No. 13, the visitors' entrance to 
the Stock Exchange, — one of the chief places 
of interest to strangers, — open from nine to 
three o'clock daily, the Drexel Building, at 
the corner of Nassau Street, the Mills Build- 
ing, adjoining the Drexel Building in Broad 
Street, several very ornate buildings that be- 
long to banking concerns, and the United 
States Custom House, — a granite structure 
with a portico containing eighteen Ionic col- 
umns thirty-eight feet in height. The ro- 
tunda of this building is eighty feet high, the 
dome of which is supported by eight pilasters 
of fine variegated Italian marble. The de- 
partments connected with the Custom House 
are those of the Collector, the Naval Officer, the 
Surveyor, and the Deputy Surveyor, — who is in 
charge of the Barge Office at the Battery. 

In 1709 a slave-market was instituted at the 
foot of Wall Street, at which time Africans 
were brought to the city in large numbers. 



1 8 MANHATTAN. 

No. 46, at the north side of the street, is 
the spot identified with the office where Pro- 
fessor Morse's telegraphic instrument and one 
operator long remained idle while waiting for 
the recognition of the commercial world. The 
handsome block of granite near by is utilized 
entirely for business offices. 

The United States Assay Office, where 
visitors may see the preparation of gold and 
silver bullion daily, between the hours of 10 
A.M. and 2 P.M., is easily identified, being 
the oldest building in the vicinity. 

The United States Sub-Treasury, at the 
corner of Nassau Street, is a building associ- 
ated with so much of our history that a short 
digression becomes necessary. 

During the administration of the third Dutch 
Governor, Kieft, a clumsy stone house was 
erected in Pearl Street for the purpose of ac- 
commodating travellers, public meetings, and 
later, a public school. Afterward, when the 
house was remodelled, and a pillory, cage, 
whipping-post and ducking-stool were added 
to its accommodations, it was called the " Stadt- 
Huys," or City Hall, and remained in active 
use until 1 700, when a new City Hall was built 
upon the site of the present Sub-Treasury, — 
the ground having been a gift to the city from 
Colonel Abraham De Peyster, who was mayor 



MANHATTAN. 19 

in 1 69 1 . Besides the rooms necessarily devoted 
to public business in this later edifice, one 
afterward contained the Corporation Library, 
a gift to the city of one thousand six hundred 
and twenty two volumes ; another was used as 
a fire-engine house, while the entire upper 
story became converted into a Debtor's Prison. 
From the balcony w^as read the Declaration of 
Independence, July i8th, 1776, amidst the 




rapturous applause of citizens who understood 
the fierce struggle it inaugurated. After the 
war, when Congress appropriated the building, 



2 MANHATTAN. 

it was remodeled by private subscription into 
the Federal Hall, where Washington was 
•unanimously elected President of the new Re- 
public, where he was inaugurated, April 30th, 
1789, and where Congress met while New 
York was the Capital of the Nation. 

The subsequent rapid growth of the city 
necessitating a new City Hall as early as 18 12, 
the Government purchased Federal Hall and 
erected the present structure on its site, in- 
tending it originally for a Custom House. 
This granite edifice is of Doric design, having 
a portico containing marble columns thirty- 
two feet in height. Through holes in the 
ceiling of the portico balls may be dropped 
should the building be attacked by a mob. 

The Colossal Statue of '* Washington 
Taking the Oath of Office," by J. Q. A. 
Ward, which stands at the entrance, is an ad- 
mirable work of art, erected by the New York 
Chamber of Commerce and presented to the 
United States Government in 1883, President 
Arthur accepting the gift in behalf of the Gov- 
ernment just one hundred years after Wash • 
ington's triumphal entry into New York. 
Near the base of the statue lies the identical 
stone upon which Washington stood during 
the ceremony of the first inauguration. 

Within the building, to which visitors are 



MANHATTAN. 21 

admitted from. 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., are many 
vaults for the storage of coins and notes. 
Desks of the different divisions surround the 
rotunda, the dome of which is supported by 
sixteen Corinthian columns cut from solid 
blocks of marble. 

The last object of prominence in the street 
is the Astor Building, at No. 10. 

Lower Broadway and Vicinity from 
Wall Street to the Post-Office. — At 
the west side of Broadway, one block north of 
Trinity Church, stands a building which was 
erected by, and bears the nam,e of, Francis 
Boreel, a Dutch nobleman who married the 
granddaughter of John Jacob Astor. The spot 
on which this building stands originally was 
occupied by the elegant home of Lieutenant- 
Governor James De Lancey, after whose death 
the property was converted into a public house, 
known by a great variety of names, the most 
famous of which Avas ''Burns' Coffee House." 
In this hotel the celebrated '' Non-Impor- 
tation Agreement" was signed. Later, the 
house became a favorite resort of the British 
officers, on account of its proximity to " The 
Mall," — a fashionable promenade in front of 
Trinity Church, — and after the Revolution its 
"great room" was the scene of Washington's 
inauguration ball ; also of many public dinners, 



2 2 MANHATTAN. 

concerts, and assemblies. In 1 793 a syndicate 
of New York merchants pulled down the old 
building and erected a new one, called the City 
Hotel, which furnished accommodations for the 
entertainment of magnates, as well as for public 
assemblies of every description. 

At the opposite side of the street is the 
Guernsey Building, No. 164. The Equitable 
Life Insurance Building, on the same side of 
the way, between Pine and Cedar Streets, is 
an excellent specimen of modern French Re- 
naissance. The interior contains a magnificent 
court, filled with offices and stalls. In the w^all 
near the stairway is a fine mosaic. The story 
occupied by the Equitable Life Insurance 
Company is magnificently decorated with 
marble. A Signal Service Station may be 
investigated at the top of the building, and 
the Safe Deposit Vaults in the basement are 
open to inspection. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE FIRST AFTERNOON. 

The court of the Equitable Building leads to 
Nassau Street, where stands a splendid granite 
structure, erected by the Mutual Life Insurance 
Company, in modern French Renaissance style. 

The Historic Middle Dutch Church, 
of quaint Holland architecture, which formerly 
occupied the site of the last mentioned build- 
ing, was erected in 1729. Here twelve elders 
with stereotyped countenances sat in solemn 
state around the high pulpit, and listened to 
the Dutch dominies whose learned discourses 
were delivered in their native tongue until 
1764. It was in the wooden steeple of this 
church that Franklin experimented with the 
lightning. The bell, a gift from Colonel 
Abraham De Peyster, was cast in Amsterdam, 
where many citizens are said to have thrown 
silver coins into the metal while it was in fu- 
sion. During the Revolution the church was 
used by the English for a prison, three thou- 
sand Federal troops having endured incredible 
sufferings within its walls, while almost as 

23 



24 



MAN HA TTAN. 



many more were confined in an old sugar- 
house near by. In 1844 the property was sold 
to the Government, w^hen for a number of 




THE POST-OFFICE IN THE NASSAU STREET CHURCH. 



years it was used as a post-office. The old 
bell is now placed in front of the church at the 
corner of Fifth Avenue and 29th Street. 

A fine building-, owned by the Library Cor- 
poration, and containing the earliest loan- 
library in America, — since removed to the 
corner of Leonard Street and Broadway, — once 
stood at the corner of Nassau and Cedar 
Streets. 

Nassau, one of the oldest streets in New 



MANHA TTAN. 25 

York, still retains the narrow irregularity of 
the foot-path which gave it its direction. 
Maiden Lane, which crosses Nassau Street 
one block north of the Insurance Building, is 
now a trade-centre for manufacturing jewellers, 
but was once a favorite resort for laundresses, 
on account of the little stream which flowed 
through it, — hence its name, " Maagde paetze," 
or " Virgin's path." In John Street, one block 
further north, was a small wooden theatre, 
called the Theatre Royal, in which British 
officers often were amateur performers, and 
where Major Andre was both amateur actor 
aud scene-painter. In 1786 the first Methodist 
church was erected in this street. 

"The Russian Wedding Feast," a cele- 
brated painting by Makoffsky, is exhibited at 
No. 24 John Street. In this picture the artist 
has portrayed the moment when a young hus- 
band is about to salute his blushing bride, — 
for the first time unveiled before him, — while 
the guests are waiting until this part of the 
ceremony shall have been performed before 
they drink to the health of the young couple. 
The figures are animated, the faces expres- 
sive, and the costumes and decorations superb. 
The grouping of endless varieties of color into 
a perfectly harmonious whole is the most no- 
ticeable feature of this painting. An entrance 



26 MANHA TTAN. 

fee of twenty-five cents, which is appropriated 
to some charitable institution, is charged. 

At the corner of Broadway and Dey Street, 
directly opposite John Street, is the Western 
Union Telegraph Company Building, the de- 
sign of which is sometimes called Neo-Grec. 
The Coal and Iron Exchange is one block south, 
at No. 19 Cortland Street. 

Fulton, the first street north of Dey and 
John Streets, is known by the same name from 
one river to the other. Washington Market 
is at the Hudson River terminus, and Fulton 
Market is in the same street, near the East 
River. The region of the last named place of 
merchandise was once called "Golden Hill." 
A skirmish at Cliff and Fulton Streets in Jan- 
uary 1770, — caused by the indignation which 
the British soldiers aroused by repeatedly de- 
molishing the liberty poles erected by citizens, 
— has been termed the first battle of the Revo- 
lution. In this first, as in the last conflict, the 
British were worsted. 

The southeastern corner of Fulton Street 
and Broadway is occupied by the Evening 
Post Building. 

St. Paul's Chapel, the next attraction in 
Broadway, was built in 1 766 by Trinity Corpora- 
tion, and is the oldest church edifice in the city. 
Trinity Congregation has occupied this chapel 



MA NHA TTAN. 27 

several times while its own edifice was in pro- 
cess of reconstruction. Here divine service 
was conducted in 1789, immediately after the 
inauguration of Washington, and also in 1889, 
at the centennial celebration of that event. 
During the early part of his administration 
the first President worshipped in the pew which 
is situated under the gallery at the northern 
side of the chapel, about half-way between the 
chancel and the vestry, and adorned by a fresco 
of the American Eagle. Governor George 
Clinton occupied the pew directly opposite. 

The churchyard adds to the venerable ap- 
pearance of the chapel. Under the portico, 
at the Broadway side, lie the remains of Gen- 
eral Richard Montgomery, who was killed in 
1775 while storming Quebec, and on the wall 
above is a tablet erected to his memory by 
order of Congress. At the left stands a mon- 
ument to Thomas Addis Emmet, — the brilliant 
Irish patriot who came to America soon after 
his release from imprisonment in Ireland, and 
established himself here in the practice of law. 
Dr. Mac Nevin, Emmet's compatriot and fel- 
low-sufferer, has a monument at the right. 
The actor, George Frederick Cooke, is also bur- 
ied in these grounds. The rector and vestry 
of Trinity Church occupy offices in the build- 
ing at the rear of the cemetery. 



28 MANHATTAN. 

The block at the north of the chapel is occu- 
pied by the Astor House. The New York 
Herald Building is at the southeastern corner 
of Broadway and Ann Street, where, in 
former years, P. T. Barnum drew large crowds 
to visit his American Museum. 

The Post-Office. — The triangular build- 
ing opposite the Astor House is the city Post- 
Office, completed in 1877. The material is 
of light-colored granite, and the architecture 
is a mixture of Doric and Renaissance, the 
domes having been patterned after those of the 
Louvre in Paris. The third and fourth floors 
are occupied by the Law Institute and Library, 
and by the United States Courts and their 
offices, but the remainder of the building is 
used entirely by the Post-Office Department. 
Eight hundred million letters, newspapers, 
etc., are delivered annually. From twelve to 
twenty collections are daily made from sixteen 
hundred lamp-post boxes, and over two thou- 
sand men are employed in the main office and 
the seventeen sub-stations under its control. 
Although the postal facilities of the present 
office are admirable, its capacity is not suffi- 
cient for the constantly increasing business of 
our rapidly growing city. The question of a 
larger building, to be located very much fur- 
ther north, is now agitating the public mind. 



so MANHA TTAN. 

In former years, before the Middle Dutch 
Church was used as a post-office, a rotunda in 
the park north of the present building, was 
changed from a cyclorama to a station for the 
distribution of Uncle Sam's mail. The indig- 
nation of the merchants was at this time 
aroused because the post-office was located so 
far up- town. 

In 1 71 8 the first rope-walk appeared in 
Broadway, between Barclay Street and Park 
Place. 

Columbia College, originally called King's 
College, formerly stood west of Broadway, in 
Park Place. 

City Hall Park. — The park at the north 
of the Post Office was called "The Fields," or 
" The Commons," in the early days, the ground 
now occupied by the Post-Office having been 
included. At a public meeting in this place 
Alexander Hamilton delivered his maiden 
speech. 

The white marble building designed in the 
Italian style of architecture is the City Hall. 
At the time of its completion in 18 12, it was 
unsurpassed by any edifice in the country; 
indeed it was the only chaste and classic speci- 
men of architecture which New York possessed 
until the pure Gothic of Trinity and Grace 
Churches inspired a desire for something bet- 



MANHA TTAN. 



31 



ter than the feeble imitations of Greek temples 
that previously had abounded. The head- 
quarters of the city government are in this 
building; also the city library. The "Gov- 
ernors' Room" contains portraits of national 
celebrities, the chairs used by the first Con- 













^^ 



*-^- X 



THE CITY HALL. 



gress, the desk on which Washington penned 
his first message to Congress, and his inaugu- 
ral chair. Here the remains of President 
Lincoln were laid in state, while for twenty- 
four hours a sad procession, which even during 
the night did not diminish in volume, surged 
by him. 



32 MANHA TTAN. 

The County Court House stands at the 
northern end of the park, a white marble 
building of Corinthian design, which perpetu- 
ates the memory of the gigantic frauds that 
occurred during the Tweed regime. Different 
authorities estimate the cost of this edifice to 
the city to have been from eight to thirty mil- 
lions of dollars. It now accommodates the 
State Courts and several of the city depart- 
ments. The city almshouse formerly stood 
on this site. 

A jail, called "The Provost," which previous 
to the Revolution had been erected near the 
eastern border of the park, was used during 
the British occupation for the confinement of 
notable American prisoners, the marshal mak- 
ing himself conspicuous for his criminal treat- 
ment of the captives. This relic of Revolu- 
tionary times still stands. After the war it 
was used as a debtors' prison,* common felons 
having been confined in the "Bridewell," 
which stood between the City Hall and Broad- 
way. A gallows frowned between the two 
buildings. In 1830 " Provost" was remodelled 
to imitate the Temple of Diana at Ephesus, 
and has since been used for the offices of the 
Register, except when during the cholera 
scourge of 1832 it was converted temporarily 
into a hospital. 



MANHATTAN. ^i 

Park Row. — Because the group of lofty 
buildings that face the park from the east and 
south are mostly newspaper offices, the place 
has received the name of '* Printing House 
Square." The huge structures that stand a 
little to the south of the park are provided 
with law and business offices. Temple Court, 
at the southwestern corner of Nassau and 
Beekman Streets, is one hundred and sixty 
feet in height. The Morse Building, at the 
northeastern corner of the same streets, is 
one hundred and sixty-five feet in height. 
The Potter Building, opposite, at the north- 
western corner, is one hundred and eighty-five 
feet, and the Times Building, just north of this, 
is two hundred and thirteen feet The mate- 
rial of this last named edifice is light granite, 
and its style is a beautiful adaptation of the 
Gothic. The Tribiuie Building, which was 
the first lofty edifice in this vicinity, stands 
at the corner of Spruce Street and Park Row, 
with a bronze statue of its founder, Horace 
Greeley, on the sidewalk in front of one of its 
windows. The Siui Building is next to the 
Tribune Building, while at the north, tower- 
ing over all, is the Pulitzer Building, a colos- 
sus of the colossi, of Scotch sandstone and 
terra-cotta, three hundred and seventy-five feet 
in height. Visitors are freely admitted to the 
3 



34 MANHA TTAN. 

dome of this building- (from whence the vis- 
ion extends over forty-five miles of country), 
and to the World offices and press-room. The 
twelfth floor contains the best appointed com- 
posing-room in the world. On the numerous 
floors above are the editorial, reportorial, and 
photo-engraving rooms. The distributing- 
room is in the basement, and the press-room 
occupies the cellar. In this latter apartment 
are eight cylinder presses connected with ma- 
chines that cut and fold the papers ready for 
delivery. To watch these mighty servants of 
civilization at their work is most entertaining. 
The design of this majestic edifice is a free 
treatment of the Romanesque. 

On the site of these gigantic structures for- 
merly were the " Brick Church" (Presbyte- 
rian), of which the popular Dr. Spring was 
pastor, and the Park Theatre, a play-house 
where the best society witnessed histrionic 
exhibitions by Matthews, Cooper, Cooke, Kean, 
Macready, and Junius Brutus Booth. 

The Statue of America's Philosopher 
AND Patriot, Benjamin Franklin, by Plass- 
man, which stands in the Square, was given to 
the city by a private citizen in 1872. 

Franklin Square. — A short walk in Frank- 
fort Street, an unattractive thoroughfare south 
of the Pulitzer Building, affords an opportunity 



MANHA TTAN. 35 

for inspecting the supporting-towers of Brook- 
lyn Bridge, the arches under the bridge- 
approach, etc. The elevated-railroad station, 
which crosses the street at Franklin Square, 
marks a spot once celebrated for its aristocratic 
residences. The first presidential mansion 
was in Cherry Street, near Pearl, but proved 
to be inconvenient because so far out of town. 
Walton House, the palace of the city, was at 
No. 326 Pearl Street, the grounds extending 
eastward to the river. Harpers' Publishing 
House is the only object of interest in the vicin- 
ity now, business and tenement houses having 
obliterated all traces of former grandeur. 

The Model Tenement Houses erected 
by a company composed of members of the 
Society for Ethical Culture, are some distance 
beyond, at No. 306 Cherry Street. The 
houses are kept in excellent repair, and 
yield four and one-half per cent, on the in- 
vestment, the object of the company being 
to realize a fair profit and not an exor- 
bitant one. From Franklin Square to South 
Street is but a step ; there the Belt Line cars 
run northeast to Montgomery Street, near 
which, in Cherry Street, these houses are sit- 
uated. Returning, the cars at the corner of 
East Broadway and Essex Street will convey 
passengers to Broadway at Ann Street. 



36 MANHA TTAN. 

Brooklyn Bridge. — East of City Hall Park 
is Brooklyn Suspension Bridge, over which 
about ninety-eight thousand persons daily pass. 
The entire length of the bridge is five thou- 
sand, nine hundred and and eighty-nine feet, 
and its width is eighty-five feet, including 
a promenade for foot-passengers, two rail- 
road tracks — on which run passenger cars pro- 
pelled by a stationary engine on the Brook- 
lyn side — and two roadways for vehicles. 
The floor of the bridge at its greatest height 
is one hundred and thirty-five feet above 
high-water mark, but full-rigged ships have 
to strike their topgallant masts to pass un- 
der unimpeded. The height above water 
of the supporting towers is two hundred and 
seventy-two feet. The bridge was opened in 
the summer of 1883, having been constructed 
at a cost of fifteen millions of dollars. A ride 
over the railway to Brooklyn, returning by 
way of the promenade, will afford the best 
views of the bridge, the East River, and the 
Bay. 

Lower Broadway. — The yellow surface 
cars that pass the City Hall Park at the west 
furnish the best means of viewing Broadway 
from this point to 14th Street. 

The white marble building at the Chambers 
Street corner, formerly was A. T. Stewart's 



38 MANHA TTAN. 

wholesale dry-goods store, but is now remod- 
elled for offices. The site originally was used 
as a negro burial-ground. Two blocks further 
north Duane Street marks the site of the old 
New York City Hospital, built in 1775, and 
surrounded by five acres of ground containing 
magnificent elms. The Ionic Building at 
Leonard Street belongs to the New York Life 
Insurance Company. At this place Contoit's 
Garden used to call together the fashionable 
people, young and old, to enjoy its cool shade, 
and partake of its ices and lemonades. The 
magnificent building of the Globe Mutual Life 
Insurance Company is directly opposite. 

Canal Street, so called because a canal 
which formed an outlet for the w^aters of Col- 
lect Pond once ran through it to the Hudson 
River, is a little further north. Sidewalks 
and roadways were on each side of the water, — 
which explains the width of the street, — and a 
stone bridge crossed it at Broadway. When 
the canal was filled in this bridge was left in- 
tact, and still remains imbedded under the 
pavement. 

The Board of Education occupies a 
building at the right of Broadway, in Grand 
Street, No. 146. 

NiBLO's Garden Tpieatre, at the Prince 
Street corner, is very spacious and pleasing, 



MANHATTAN. 39 

the stage usually being devoted to spectacular 
plays. Both the theatre and the adjoining 
Metropolitan Hotel belong to the estate of the 
late A. T. Stewart. 

Richmond Hill, the delightful country 
seat where General and Mrs. Washington were 
quartered during the eventful summer of 1776, 
was situated west of this, near the Hudson. 
Afterward, when it was the home of the first 
vice-president, Mrs. Adams wrote of it: "In 
natural beauty it might vie with the most de- 
licious spot I ever saw." It was the residence 
of Aaron Burr at the time of his duel with 
Hamilton, but was soon after sold to John Jacob 
Astor, who converted it into a public resort. 

The Central Police Station is the next 
point of interest near which the car passes. 
It is situated in Mulberry Street, two blocks 
east of Broadway, and one-half block north 
of Houston Street. In it is exhibited the 
"Rogues' Gallery," a collection of more than 
a thousand photographs of notorious criminals. 
The police force of the city consists of three 
thousand, two hundred men. There are thirty- 
five precincts, — one of which includes the har- 
bor, — each under the command of a captain and 
sergeants. Each precinct has a building for 
the accommodation of policemen and homeless 
individuals. 



40 MANHA TTAN. 

A City Shop. — No visit to the city would 
be complete without inspecting' some of the 
leading shops, and probably none of them 
have so many interesting associations as the 
extensive dry-goods house which occupies the 
entire block between 9th and loth Streets, in 
Broadway. This is now known by the firm 
name of Hilton, Hughes & Denning, but it 
was A.T.Stewart who secured for the estab- 
lishment its notoriety. There has been no 
especial change in the interior since the death 
of the founder, except that which is demanded 
by changing fashions. In the well-lighted 
rotunda, with its elaborate decoration of stucco 
work, just as rich fabrics are displayed, and 
each of the different departments is as com- 
plete as when under the rule of the merchant 
who made himself a prince and his place of 
business a palace. 

Below stairs are ceramics, bric-a-brac, and 
household goods. The main floor is occupied 
with dry-goods, while the floors above contain 
carpets, artistic furniture, and reception rooms. 
The unique feature of this shop at present is 
its display of the statuary which formerly 
adorned the home of Mr. Stewart. While a 
promiscuous pile of dry-goods is not the best 
background for these gems of sculptured art, 
it certainly is a privilege to see them. 



MA Nil A TTAN. 4 1 

The statue of Proserpine, Marshall Wood, 
sculptor, is near Broadway, at the 9th Street 
side. "The Bather," by Tantardine, is near 
the 9th Street elevator. An exquisite concep- 
tion of Sappho, by Crawford, faces the rotunda 
near by. A much less effective piece of Craw- 
ford's work is the " Flora " which stands in the 
9th Street and Fourth Avenue corner. A fine 
bust of Washington, by Hiram Powers, faces 
the rotunda at the Fourth Avenue side, and 
near the loth Street staircase is Harriet Hos- 
mer's noble rendering of " Zenobia in Chains." 
A most interesting study of Demosthenes, by 
Crawford, is placed near the loth Street ele- 
vator. "Paul and Virginia," by Joseph Dun- 
ham, and John Randolph Rogers' "Blind 
Nydia Fleeing from Pompeii" are close by, 
completing the list, with the exception of a 
" Fisher Girl" by Tadolini, which stands in a 
reception room upstairs. The one object 
missing from the valuable collection is Hiram 
Powers' " Greek Slave." 

The Studio Building in West loth Street, 
near Sixth Avenue, has for many years been 
the home of our most celebrated artists. Near 
by is the Jefferson Market court and prison, 
an irregular but unique and handsome struct- 
ure, built of red brick and sandstone, in the 
Italian Gothic style. Adjoining this is Jeffer- 



42 MANHATTAN. 

son Market, a brick structure richly orna- 
mented with terra-cotta. 

Grace Church. — In Broadway, north of 
Denning 's, stands Grace Church, which, with 
the edifices attached, is built of white lime- 
stone, in chaste, fourteenth century Gothic 
style, forming one of the most beautiful archi- 
tectural effects in the city. The rectory is 
connected with the church by a clergy-house, 
which contains a library and reading-room 
open to church members. In the grounds is 
a colossal terra-cotta jar that was found forty 
feet below the surface in Rome. The small 
building at the south of the church is the 
chantry, in which daily services are held. 
This, with the chancel, and two organs con- 
nected by electrical machinery, are gifts from 
Miss Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, the chancel 
having been erected as a memorial to her 
father. The tower contains a fine set of 
chimes. Back of the church, in Fourth Ave- 
nue, is a day-nursery for the reception of 
young children during the hours when their 
mothers are at work. This is known as Grace 
Memorial Home, and was erected by Vice- 
President Levi P. Morton as a tribute to his 
wife. 

Grace Church was founded in 1805, its first 
building occupying the corner of Broadway 



MANHA TTAN. 43 

and Rector Street. The present structure was 
built in 1846. Next to Trinity, Grace is the 
wealthiest Episcopal church corporation in the 
city. 

The Star Theatre, at the corner of 13th 
Street, was built in 1862, and shortly afterward 
came under the able management of Lester 
Wallack, who for twenty years associated its 
boards with all that is best in legitimate com- 
edy. The management changed when Wal- 
lack 's new theatre was opened, but the place 
retains its prestige, and good plays are always 
presented. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE SECOND MORNING. 

"After the Hunt," by W.M.Harnett. — 
A remarkable painting on exhibition at No. 8 
Warren Street, represents an old barn door on 
which hang implements of the chase and tro- 
phies of a hunt. Probably nothing more real- 
istic ever has been seen on canvas than these 
panels, so marvellously like wood, in which a 
cunningly wrought nail-hole deceives the most 
practised eye. The glint of brass surrounding 
the lock, the sheen of the mother-of-pearl on 
the stock of the old gun, and the metal and 
old cracked bone in the hilt of the sword, decoy 
nearly every one into emphatic assertions that 
the work is inlaid and not painted. The 
drawing in this picture is exceptionally fine. 
A battle scene in the Franco- Prussian war, 
and "The Quarrel," by Meissonier, are in the 
collection of paintings here exhibited. Al- 
though these pictures are in a saloon, ladies 
are frequent visitors between the hours of 
eight and eleven a.m. 

44 



MANHA TTAN. 45 

The Staats Zeitung Building, over the 
portals of which stand life-size bronze statues 
of Franklin and Gutenberg-, is across the park, 
at the junction of Park Row and Centre Street. 
This, in the old days, was the starting point 
of the Boston Road. 

Chatham Street. — From the Staats Zei- 
tung Building to Chatham Square, Park Row, 
formerly called Chatham Street, has long been 
inhabited by Jews who deal in cheap clothing. 
The Newsboys' Lodging-house is east of Park 
Row, in the first street which crosses it. From 
one room in a private house in this vicinity 
the first post-office distributed mail to the city. 
At the right, in Madison Street, near Pearl 
Street, the first public school opened in 1805, 
with forty pupils, De Witt Clinton and the 
Society of Friends having been instrumental 
in projecting a work which is now expanded 
until it comprises three hundred schools and a 
free college under a municipal Board of Educa- 
tion. At the northwestern corner of Park Row 
and Baxter Street the famous Tea-water Pump 
-was situated, — a remarkable spring from which 
fourteen thousand and three hundred gallons 
of pure w^ater were daily drawn, and sold about 
town for one penny a gallon. 

Chatham Square, which is but two blocks 
from Baxter Street, was formerly the burial- 



46 MANHA TTAN. 

ground of the Jews. Just beyond were the 
British intrenchments, in which dead bodies 
of American prisoners were indiscriminately 
thrown without rites of sepulture. 

The Five Points. — At the west, Worth 
Street leads by Mulberry and Baxter Streets, 
where are teeming masses of the lowest grades 
of humanity. The junction which is formed 
by Baxter with other streets is called "The 
Five Points, " — a locality long celebrated for the 
criminal character of its population, but now 
reclaimed, through the efforts of devoted mis- 
sionaries, until its dangerous elements have 
nearly disappeared. Italians, Chinese, beg- 
gars, boot-blacks, opium-peddlers, etc., live in 
the vicinity now, but criminals are rare. An 
old brewery, which once sheltered the very 
worst characters and was associated with the 
most appalling crimes, is no more, and the 
low dens that still are to be found in the nar- 
row streets near by will rapidly be obliterated 
by the business houses that continually are 
encroaching. A visit to one of the missions 
at least should not be omitted. 

The Five Points "House of Industry," 
founded in 1850, has since that time received 
over twenty thousand inmates and furnished 
instruction to forty thousand children. Ga- 
mijis from the neighborhood, as well as those 



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MANHA TTAN; 47 

children who reside in the building-, are care- 
fully trained in common school branches, 
special attention being given to the study of 
the physiological effects of alcohol. A daily 
bath also exercises its salutary influence upon 
the pupils. A children's song-service, com- 
posed of classical selections astonishingly well 
rendered, — and demonstrating the practicabil- 
ity of utilizing the best music as a means of re- 
fining the ignorant, — is held Sunday afternoons 
at half-past three o'clock, after which visitors 
are permitted to inspect the building. The 
officers of the institution, who keep themselves 
informed concerning the welfare of the chil- 
dren that have been under their care, assert 
that so far only two have been known to lead 
criminal lives. Women also are here shel- 
tered, and employment is found for them. 

" The Five Points Mission" is opposite, and 
in the small space between is a band-stand, 
where open-air evening concerts are given to 
audiences composed of tramps and drunkards 
of both sexes, whose faces expose their hard- 
ened characters, making the name of the place, 
Paradise Park, an awful misnomer. 

The Tombs. — In Centre Street, one block 
toward the west, stands an imposing granite 
pile, ominously called "The Tombs," and used 
as the city prison. This edifice, which covers 



48 MANHA TTAN 

an entire block, was erected in 1838 on ground 
made by filling Collect Pond. Although the 
foundations of the building were laid much 
deeper than usual, the walls settled and ap- 
peared to be in peril, but as they have stood 
for over half a century, they are now^ consid- 



ered safe. The site chosen w^as unfortunate, 
because the hollow ground does not show the 
really fine building, — which is said to be the 
purest specimen of Egyptian architecture out 
of Egypt, — to advantage, and also because the 
necessarily damp and unwholesome condition 
of the soil renders the place a very poor one 



MANHA TTAN. 49 

for the confinement of human beings. To 
further add to the pestilential condition of this 
swamp-land, some tanners, who previously oc- 
cupied the locality, left their vats open when 
they removed their tanneries, and for a long- 
time these plague-spots remained unrectified. 

In the portico massive and sombre pillars, 
well calculated to induce a hopeless state of 
mind, lead to the Court of Special Sessions 
and the Police Court, both of which may be 
visited without permits from 9.30 a.m. until 
4 P.M. The prison entrance is in Franklin 
Street. Here criminals wait to be tried and 
convicts were executed. Permits are required 
in order to visit the dark and gloomy cells be- 
tween the hours of 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. These 
may be secured from the Commissioners of Pub- 
lic Charities and Correction, at their bureau, 
corner of Third Avenue and i ith Street. 

A new building for the accommodation of 
the criminal courts is in process of construction 
at the north of the prison. 

MOTT Street. — ^Returning to Chatham 
Square by Worth Street a few moments should 
be devoted to Mott Street, which swarms with 
representatives of the Chinese nation, usually 
very well-behaved persons. The Joss houses 
are easily discoverable because of their oriental 
decorations, but they are not open to the pub- 
4 



5o MANHA TTAN. 

lie. The exeltisively foreign aspect of the 
place inspires one Avith the feeling of the 
child who, when taken to visit the pano- 
rama of Gettysburg, asked, "Why, where is 
New York?" 

The Bowery. — From Chatham Square the 
up-town train on the elevated road passes 
through a street which bears the most unique 
of reputations. " The Bowery " from begin- 
ning to end is a queer conglomeration of 
cheap stores, concert-saloons, variety theatres, 
and dime museums, while venders of all sorts 
of small wares impede the sidewalks. The 
character of this locality also has changed with 
time. The "Bowery Boy," who terrorized 
the police, and made his face good for an 
entrance-fee to the theatre, has disappeared ; 
and even the "young fellow" of the period 
finds his paste diamonds too little appreciated 
by the Germans, who are rapidly taking pos- 
session of his old "stamping ground." The 
name of this street was derived from the fact 
that it originally was a lane passing by Dutch 
farms or "booweries." 

The Old Bowery Theatre, the history of 
which is closely interwoven with traditions of 
the American stage, still stands below Canal 
Street. Malibran, Hackett, Forrest, the elder 
Booth, Charlotte Cushman, and many other 



MANHATTAN. 51 

great stars, have made this place luminous 
with their presence. Since their day the 
rougher class has made it a home for hetero- 
geneous melodrama. 

Three savings banks in this street have 
greatly aided to promote frugal habits among 
residents of the vicinity. A branch of the 
Young Men's Christian Association is also lo- 
cated here. The shopping centre for country 
people and the smaller trades-people is east, 
in Grand Street, where goods are much cheaper 
than in the fashionable quarter. A totally 
different aspect characterizes this locality from 
that which appears about the up-town stores. 

At East 3d Street it will again be necessary 
to become a pedestrian. 

Lafayette Place, which extends at right 
angles with East 3d, or Great Jones Street, 
one block west of the Bowery, is a quarter 
in which the antiquated style of the old resi- 
dences, — now mostly appropriated by publish- 
ing houses, religious newspapers, hotels, and 
restaurants, — has given them an air of great 
respectability. 

The Astor Library Building, at the east 
side of the street, covering the site of the old 
Vauxhall Garden, is of brown-stone and brick, 
Romanesque in design, and in pattern similar 
to the royal palaces of Florence. This edifice 



53 MANHA TTAN, 

was erected in 1853, — according to the will of 
John Jacob Astor, — who left four hundred 
thousand dollars for this purpose; and ap- 
pointed the most able scholars, with Wash- 
ington Irving as their president, to act as 
trustees. There are now about three hundred 
thousand books on the shelves, mainly books 
of reference, and the fact that annually there 
are about sixty thousand persons who seek 
exact knowledge in this classic library demon- 
strates the intelligence of the age. There is 
still capacity for about two hundred thousand 
volumes. In the collection are records of the 
effective work of the United States Sani- 
tary Commission during the war, rare Greek 
and Latin manuscripts, an illuminated manu- 
script volume of chants used at the coronation 
of French kings, and some black-letter tomes 
that include a copy of the first printed Bible, 
and a fair amount of Shakesperiana. These 
will be shown on application. The library is 
open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and is accessible 
to any person by simply registering name and 
address. Since the original endowment, Wil- 
liam B. Astor has contributed five hundred 
and fifty thousand dollars, and John Jacob 
Astor, — the grandson of the founder, — three 
hundred thousand dollars. 

On its departure for Washington in 1861, 



54 MANHA TTAN. 

the Seventh Regiment National Guard formed 
in line along this street, amid great excitement 
and a profuse display of banners and bunting. 
This corps was composed of the youth and 
flower of the city. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE SECOND AFTERNOON. 

The Mercantile Library. — Astor Place, 
which diagonally crosses Lafayette Place at 
the north, is a quarter mostly occupied by 
publishing houses. A new Clinton Hall stands 
at the triangle formed by the junction of Astor 
Place and 8th Street, the old one which stood 
on the same site having recently been pulled 
down because it was too small to accommodate 
the Mercantile Library, for which it had long 
been a home. This library, founded in 1821 
for merchants' clerks, occupied a hall (called 
Clinton Hall because De Witt Clinton pre- 
sented the first book) at the corner of Beekman 
and Nassau Streets. Columbia College granted 
two free scholarships to the organization, and 
members secured many privileges in the way 
of lecture courses and class instruction. Noth- 
ing is more interesting than a history of the 
institutions founded in this city during the 
first half-century of our Republic, at which 
time the energy and insight of a few public- 
spirited men, — among whom none were more 

55 



56 MANHATTAN. 

conspicuous than De Witt Clinton, — laid the 
foundation for broad and far-reaching educa- 
tional systems that are proving of incalculable 
benefit to the whole nation. The library was 
moved to its present site in 1854, and now 
again has required more commodious quarters. 
Two hundred thousand volumes, besides news- 
papers and periodicals, occupy its shelves, and 
new books are constantly being purchased. 
Branch libraries are at No. 62 Liberty Street, 
and at No. 43 1 Fifth Avenue. The charges 
for yearly membership are four dollars for 
clerks, and five dollars for other persons. 

The Clinton Hall, which recently has been 
demolished, originally was the Astor Place 
Opera House, where in 1849, the Forrest- 
Macready riot occurred, — an outbreak which 
was occasioned by the unpopularity of Mac- 
ready, who was supposed to have prejudiced 
English opinion against Forrest, the American 
favorite. A poorly modelled bronze statue of 
Samuel S. Cox recently has been placed in 
the triangular space east of Clinton Hall. 

Cooper Union. — The massive brown-stone 
building at the right, the old portion of which 
is classic, and the additions of which are Gothic 
in design, is a monument of far-sighted phi- 
lanthropy, built in 1857 by the late Peter 
Cooper, at a cost of six hundred and thirty 



MANHA TTAN. 



57 



thousand dollars, and endowed by him with 
three hundred thousand dollars for the support 
of the library, free reading-room, and schools 




COOPER UNION. 



of art and science. The library, which is open 
between the hours of 8 a.m and lo p.m. on 
week days, and on Sundays, from October to 
May, from 12 M. to 9 p.m., contains a complete 
set of Patent-Office reports, about twenty 
thoUvSand books, and the periodicals and news- 
papers of the day. An average of seventeen 
hundred persons daily patronize the reading- 
room, and the annual attendance at the even- 
ing schools is thirty-five hundred. Free pop- 
ular lectures are given Saturday evenings. 



58 MANHATTAN. 

A special art school is provided for women 
during the day, as well as classes in telegraphy, 
phonography, and typewriting. The large hall 
of this establishment, which is used for mass 
meetings, has been identified with almost 
every public movement since the erection of 
the building. Its walls have echoed to the 
clarion voices of Garrison, Beecher, Phillips, 
Sumner, Anna Dickinson, Lucretia Mott, and 
Abraham Lincoln, — on the occasion of his pres- 
idential campaign against Douglas, the " Little 
Giant of Illinois." 

The Bible House, just north of Cooper 
Union, contains the offices of the American 
Bible Society, an organization whose presses 
have printed the Bible in eighty languages. 

The Sixty-ninth Regiment Armory is 
over Tompkins Market, east of Cooper L^nion. 
The mention of this regiment still recalls to 
many minds one of the most harrowing sights 
of the Civil War, when after the battle of Bull 
Run, only three hundred members returned 
from that wholesale massacre, and these came 
hatless, coatless, and stockingless. The dis- 
tress of the women who discovered that their 
loved ones were missing, and the frantic 
eagerness with which the soldiers grasped 
their wives and children, is spoken of as a 
scene affecting in the extreme. 



MANHATTAN. 59 

Tompkins Square. — From this point St. 
Mark's Place, or East 8tli Street, leads to a 
pretty park which invites occupants of the 
tenement houses near by to enjoy the fresh air. 
Whatever may be the shortcomings of our mu- 
nicipal government no complaint can be made 
with regard to the floral display, for beautiful 
little patches of color, arranged with really 
artistic skill, adorn the public grounds in all 
parts of the city. In the pail^ just mentioned 
a fine fountain and ample pond sustain such 
rare water-exotics as the lotus of Egypt and 
India, the Egyptian papyrus. South American 
pond-lilies, and many other varieties of water 
plants, all of which are catalogued on a sign- 
board. A band-stand, confectionery-booths, 
and plenty of benches, further indicate the com- 
fort given to the tired working people summer 
evenings. 

The Wilson Industrial School for 
Girls, which faces the park at the 8th Street 
corner, is an institution in which the Kitchen 
Garden System (little girls cooking and arrang- 
ing tables to a song accompaniment) is in 
practical operation. The matron of this estab- 
lishment, Miss Emily Huntington, is the 
founder of the system. 

St. Mark's Church. — From Cooper Union 
Stuyvesant Street leads the traveller past a 



6o MANHA TTAN. 

quaint church edifice which was erected in 
1/93 t)y Trinity Corporation, the ground and 
four thousand dollars in money having been a 
gift from a great-grandson of Peter Stuyvesant. 
The remains of the Dutch governor are in- 
terred in a vault within the church, having 
been removed from the chapel w^hich he had 
previously built upon the site of the present 
edifice. The original tablet on the outside of 
the eastern wall indicates his place of sepul- 
cher. 

A graveyard surrounds St. Mark's, in which 
only flat stones mark the resting-place of the 
dead. From this place the remains of A. T. 
Stewart were stolen. 

Second Avenue. — The broad thoroughfare 
which cuts off Stuyvesant Street at this point 
is a portion of Second Avenue that was another 
fashionable quarter of the olden time, but is 
now largely occupied by medical and benevo- 
lent institutions. 

The New York Historical Society 
Building at the southeastern corner of iith 
Street and Second Avenue, is the receptacle 
of a large and valuable collection of historical 
curiosities. This society was organized in 
1804 by prominent citizens; "For the collect- 
ing and preserving of whatever might relate 
to the natural, civil and ecclesiastical history 



MANHATTAN. 6i 

of the United States in general, and the great 
and sovereign State of New York in particular." 
Material with which to form a " Museum of 
American Antiquities" was so rapidly secured 
as to necessitate several removals, until the 
present building was erected with accommoda- 
tions so spacious that the society enlarged the 
scope of its work and purchased valuable col- 
lections of foreign art, literature, and antiquity. 
These are now so numerous as to render the 
present building inadequate for their accom- 
modation, and it is discreditable to the city 
that so many old treasures should be hidden 
from the public for want of space, of cases to 
protect, custodians to exhibit, or catalogues to 
assist the investigator. The museum contains 
a large collection of rare pamphlets and manu- 
scripts relating to American history, news- 
papers, maps, autograph letters, coins, medals, 
a library of over two thousand volumes, the 
original portraits of fourteen Inca monarchs, 
with their names and the order of their 
succession, and some portraits of celebrated 
Indian chiefs. The original water-color pict- 
ures made by Audubon for his work on natural 
history are here ; also the efforts of the early 
American artists. West, Allston, Stuart, Peale, 
Jarvis, Cole and others ; and some specimens 
from the old masters, Raphael, Van Dyke, 



62 MANHA TTAN. 

Titian, Rembrandt, Del Sarto, Paul Veronese, 
and Murillo. The Egyptian collection contains 
a fac-simile of the Rosetta Stone, mummies 
of the sacred bulls, with portions of the chariot 
and rope-harness found buried with them in 
the tombs at Dashour, vases, agricultural and 
sacrificial implements, and a great number of 
other equally interesting relics from that an- 
cient civilization. There are besides some 
specimens of the sculpture of ancient Ni- 
neveh, as well as several pieces of modern 
times. 

The society includes over two thousand 
members, through whose courtesy alone ad- 
mittance to the building is obtained. As the 
organization is unincumbered by debt, it is 
confidently hoped that a new building soon 
will be erected which can be utilized for the 
benefit of the public. 

Stuyvesant Square, through which Second 
Avenue passes on its wa}^ northward, is one 
of the most attractive of our city parks, the 
land for which was deeded to the '' Mayor, 
Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of 
New York" (this is our legal title) by Peter 
G. Stuyvesant in 1836. The donor intended 
that the park should be called Holland Square, 
but its title was changed by request of the 
recipients. As according to the terms of the 



MANHA TTAN. d^ 

deed, businCwSS houses are not permitted to en- 
croach upon this locality, it still remains a 
desirable down-town place of residence. These 
grounds once formed the northern portion of 
the Stuyvesant farm, which extended south- 
ward to 3rd Street, and from Third Avenue 
eastward to the river. On a spot within this 
farm, now identified by a plate at the corner 
of I ith Street and Third Avenue, there flour- 
ished for nearly two hundred years a pear tree 
which was brought from Holland by the orig- 
inal Peter Stuyvesant, and planted by him to 
preserve the memory of his name. 

The Friends' Meeting House and Sem- 
inary are at the left of Stuyvesant Square. 
The Quakers, who suffered much persecution 
at the hands of Dutch governors, as well as 
from Puritan authorities, could not firmly es- 
tablish themselves in this city until the begin- 
ning of the eighteenth century, when they 
erected their first meeting-house near Maiden 
Lane. Since that time they have successively 
put up a number of buildings, but at present 
these just referred to, belonging to the Hicks- 
ite branch, and one other, belonging to the 
orthodox sect, are the only meeting-houses 
that remain standino^. Throuofh all the vicis- 
situdes of the city's growth the Quaker element 
ever has been bold, peaceful, prudent, and 



64 MANHATTAN. 

practical, and our present prosperity owes 
much to their discreet activity. 

Saint George's Church, (Episcopalian) at 
the 1 6th Street corner, is in its architectural 
style a transition from the Romanesque to the 
Gothic. Two spires of such beautiful pro- 
portions that they challenged general admira- 
tion, recently have been taken down because 
they were considered unsafe. Fortunately 
they are to be rebuilt. This church originally 
was one of three chapels belonging to Trinity 
Corporation, but it became a distinct charge 
in 1811. Its first edifice was erected, in 1752, 
on ground near Beekman Street, called " Chapel 
Hill." The present structure was built in 
1849. For many years this parish was pre- 
sided over by the celebrated Dr. Stephen H. 
Tyng, whose remarkable insight and energy 
organized a work which is now ably continued 
and enlarged by the present rector, Dr. W. S. 
Rainsford. The presence of thirty women in 
the vested choir is an innovation and improve- 
ment in the service. The building at the rear 
is a sort of church club-house, where members 
have the advantages of reception and class 
rooms and a fine gymnasium. 

Sixteenth Street extends westward from 
Saint George's to Irving Place, and Irving 
Place leads southward to East 14th Street. 



MANHA TTAN. 65 

A picturesque little theatre called the "Am- 
berg," — formerly Irving Hall, — at the corner 
of Irving Place and 15th Street, is appropriated 
to German plays. 

The Academy of Music, at the 14th Street 
corner, was built in 1854 and rebuilt in 1866. 
Although the exterior of this edifice is very 
plain, the interior is renowned for its perfect 
appointments. Italian opera long found a 
home in this building, during which time its 
walls echoed to the world's most perfect voices. 
Great dramatic stars, among them Rachel, 
Ristori, Booth, Salvini, and Janauschek, also 
have appeared upon its stage. Until the erec- 
tion of the Metropolitan Opera House the Acad- 
emy was the popular place for balls and pub- 
lic meetings, but it is now entirely used for 
dramatic presentations. 

Tammany Hall, which is situated east of 
the Academy in 14th Street, is headquarters 
for the Tammany Society, or Columbian Order, 
— an organization founded in 1789 for the pur- 
pose of perpetuating a true love of country. 
In order to propitiate the Indians the society 
adopted aboriginal forms and christened itself 
with the name of an Indian chieftain. At first 
a national society, based upon general princi- 
ples of patriotism and benevolence, it became 
partisan when the administration proclaimed 
5 



66 MANHA TTAN. 

neutrality during the French Revolution. It 
is now the most thoroughly organized political 
body in the country, polling about half of the 
entire city vote. Every district has its com- 
mittee, which is under the direction of a gen- 
eral committee of eleven hundred members, 
who are in turn controlled by a " Grand Sa- 
chem," or "boss." It was this order which 
inaugurated the perpetual commemoration of 
Washington's birthday. The first Tammany 
Hall, or "Wigwam," stood on the site now 
occupied by the Sun Building. The present 
edifice was built in 1867. 

Steinway Hall, once made classical by the 
best concert music, but now converted into 
piano warerooms, was in the Steinway Build- 
ing, at the west of the Academy in 14th 
Street. 

Union Square. — A few^ steps eastward and 
an open park is reached, which affords a 
breathing space to the public in the very 
heart of the city. Business has so engrossed 
this locality that but very few of the old resi- 
dences remain. A flag-stone in the sidewalk 
at the east side, upon the surface of which is 
cut, "Union Square, founded in 1832," identi- 
fies the former home of the person who was 
most active in securing the early improvements 
for this place, Mr. Samuel Ruggles. 



68 MANHA TTAN. 

The College of Social Economics, which 
occupies the southeastern corner of i6th Street 
and Union Square, represents a new departure 
in educational lines, its object being to found 
a School of Economics that shall be distinctly 
American, thus giving to students a broader 
basis upon which to form a judgment of new 
social conditions than is made possible by ap- 
plication of the doctrines of the Manchester 
School. A business college forms a part of 
the institution, and free lectures on themes of 
popular interest are delivered Wednesday 
evenings. 

The Bronze Equestrian Statue of Wash- 
ington, of heroic size, which stands near 14th 
Street, was the first public work of art ever set 
up out-of-doors in this city. It was erected 
in 1856 by enterprising merchants. H. K. 
Brown was the sculptor. 

The great War Meeting of 1861, called 
in response to Lincoln's appeal for troops "to 
sustain the Federal Government in the present 
crisis," was held under this fac-simile of the 
benign face of our first President. 

The park contains about three and one-half 
acres of ground that are kept in excellent 
order. The fountain pond is filled with exot- 
ics similar to those already observed in other 
parks, and bordered with brilliant foliage 



MANHATTAN. 69 

plants. From the balcony of the cottage north 
of the fountain officials review the parades that 
frequently take place on the 1 7th Street Plaza, 
banners and a row of gas-jets making the place 
brilliant on special occasions. A drinking 
fountain stands at the western edge. The 
bronze statue of Lincoln, erected by popular 
subscription shortly after his assassination, and 
modeled by H. K. Brown, is at the southwest- 
ern corner. A statue of Lafayette, facing 
toward the south, was modelled by Bartholdi, 
and erected in 1876 by French residents in 
token of gratitude for the sympathy for France 
shown by America during the Franco-Prussian 
war. 

Union Square Theatre faces the park at the 
14th Street side. The pavement in front of 
this theatre is popularly known as the " Slave 
Market," from the fact that actors make this 
their lounging place while waiting for engage- 
ments. 

West Fourteenth Street, which well 
may be called "Vanity Fair," is the great 
shopping centre of New York, as the perpetual 
crowd, the bargain announcements in the shop 
windows, and the street venders of every 
description of goods, from choice roses to 
stove-blacking, will testify. 

Macy's, at the corner of 14th Street and 



70 MANHA TTAN. 

Sixth Avenue, represents a small world of traf- 
fic in itself. At first but an insignificant shop 
in an out-of-the-way quarter, it afterward suc- 
ceeded in forcing trade to its own locality and 
became the nucleus of the present business of 
the street. Within this great mart may be 
found every variety of dry-goods and notions ; 
also confectionery, drugs, books, magazines, 
stationery, toys, shoes; a fine restaurant, a 
glove department, a saddlery-hardware depart- 
ment, and a department of ceramics, bronzes, 
silverware, etc. In short, nearly everything, 
down to the simplest of household utensils, 
and all at moderate prices. Like Whitely 
of London, Macy has aimed to be an "uni- 
versal provider," and it will be seen that he 
has practically succeeded. 

It is a curious sight to watch the purchasers 
who often stand three and four deep around 
the counters. Women of wealth and simply- 
dfessed country dames jostle each other in 
their efforts to secure the attention of the ever 
busy clerks. Children clap their hands at 
sight of a beneficent Santa Claus dispensing 
beautiful toys, or wail from the nervous fatigue 
of so much excitement, while cash girls in 
bright red aprons run hither and thither with 
their package baskets, endeavoring with all 
their might to expedite matters for the crowd 



MANHATTAN. 7 1 

that seems never to diminish and never to 
cease buying. It was Macy who originated 
prices in odd numbers, and also the Christmas 
window, — a moving panorama which annually 
proves so attractive that during the holiday 
season it becomes necessary to stretch a canvas 
across the stairway at the elevated-railway sta- 
tion in order to prevent spectators from using 
the stairs as a platform from which to view 
the windows. 

The Salvation Army Quarters are in 
14th Street, west of Sixth Avenue. 

The New York Hospital, which now oc- 
cupies a building in 15th Street, between 
Sixth and Fifth Avenues, was chartered by 
George the Third in 1771, and was the second 
organization of its kind in this city. The 
original edifice in Duane Street, was destroyed 
by fire before patients could be admitted, and 
having been rebuilt, was occupied by American 
and British soldiers until the close of the war; 
so that it was 1791 before the real work of the 
institution could begin. Since that time, how- 
ever, the hospital has been almost unrivalled 
as a School of Medicine and Surgery. The 
present building, which is modern French 
Renaissance in design, was opened in 1887 
with very perfect appointments, the upper 
Story having been converted into a glass-roofed 



72 MANHATTAN. 

hall where patients may have the advantage 
of a sun bath. The first hospital on the Island, 
etablished by the Dutch near the old fort, was 
demolished by the British. 

The Young Women's Christian Associ- 
ation Building, between Fifth Avenue and 
Union Square, was founded in 1870 for the 
purpose of assisting young women who are 
dependent on their own exertions. Classes 
are here instructed in sewing, book-keeping, 
etc. ; and an employment bureau assists women 
to find positions. The system also includes a 
circulating library and reading-room, supplied 
with current periodicals; a gymnasium, a 
board directory, an exchange for woman's 
work, concerts, lectures, and Sunday Bible 
instruction. An addition, called the Margaret 
Louisa Home, which accommodates working 
women with lodging and board, recently has 
been erected in i6th Street. The building 
was the gift of Mrs. E.F.Shepard; the Asso- 
ciation is supported by voluntary contribu- 
tions. 

Tiffany's. — The great building at the cor- 
ner of 15 th Street and Union Square is the 
far-famed jewelry store of Tiffany and Com- 
pany, an establishment which stands alone in 
the world because it is so great of its kind. 
Of course, as changes constantly are taking 



MANHATTAN. 73 

place, a description of what is displayed at 
any one time only will serve to convey an idea 
of the general characteristics of this institu- 
tion. 

Upon the first floor there is a bewildering as- 
sortment of diamonds and other jewels, silver- 
ware, fans, etc. In the northwestern corner, 
devoted to Russian manufactures, a silver vase 
testifies to the remarkable degree of excellence 
arrived at by Russian artificers. 

The second floor displays a varied and most 
interesting collection of artistic work. Among 
the marble and bronze statuary placed in a 
little room near the elevator, is Edward Thax- 
ter's "First Dream of Love," — a life-size 
marble figure which challenges criticism as to 
the conception, — for a maiden asleep in an up- 
right position, her limbs bound with a net, her 
feet unsupported by the ground, and trailing 
through bushes, is a confusing thought. The 
work, however, is good, and the infant 
"Love," who whispers in the maiden's ear, is 
skilfully modelled. A much more effective 
piece of work by the same artist is the bust of 
"Meg Merrilies," which occupies a pedestal in 
the same room. 

Specimens of agatized wood from Arizona 
and Dakota, in which startlingly beautiful 
mineral colors have been produced by the 



74 MANHA TTAN. 

wash of waters containing quartz in large 
quantities, are next shown. Near these curi- 
osities are antiques in wrought brass, armor, 
etc. ; while everywhere are clocks that make 
the air musical with the chimes of Grace, 
Trinity, or Old World cathedrals. 

Under a canopy in an apartment at the 
north side of the building, stands a time- 
stained statuette of Diana, which was found 
in a sarcophagus near Athens, and is supposed 
to be two thousand five hundred years old. 
This figure is rather sturdy for the modern 
ideal of beauty, but its pose is calm and digni- 
fied. A bas-relief of a woman's head and 
shoulders, in which the workmanship is so 
delicate and the elevation so slight as to sug- 
gest the possibility of a sketch in marble, 
occupies a place on the wall near by. William 
Cooper is the creator of this last mentioned 
thing of beauty. 

The collection in this apartment also con- 
tains an electrotype copy of the Bryant Vase, 
manufactured by Tiffany, and exhibited by 
him at Philadelphia in 1876. 

A group of Russian bronzes at the left of 
the elevator should not be overlooked, as the 
quality of the material, the detail of the work, 
and above all, the consummate skill with which 
spirited action is portrayed in every object, 



MANHATTAN. 75 

make this exhibit a special feature of the 
establishment. 

On the floor above ceramics from all the 
great factories of the world are displayed. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE THIRD MORNING. 

"Milton's Visit to Galileo" is the sub- 
ject of a painting by Professor Gatti, of Flor- 
ence, which is exhibited in the art room of 
J.H.Johnston an,d Company's jewelry store, 
No. 17 Union Square. The poet, who is gaz- 
ing at the stars through a telescope, and the 
astronomer, who stands near him surrounded 
by his family, form a most interesting group, 
especially so when it is understood that each 
face is said to be an authentic portrait. The 
light from a candle in the hands of the maid, 
the rays from a lamp which is burning on the 
table, and the moonlight seen through the 
archway from which astronomical observations 
are being taken, form three luminous centres 
in which the proportionate relationships are 
maintained with a fidelity which attests great 
skill on the part of the artist. Extreme deli- 
cacy of drawing also is displayed in a chart 
of the heavens which stands on the table. 

This art room also contains several excellent 
76 



MANHATTAN'. 77 

Specimens of the French and Spanish schools, 
and American art is well represented. An 
admirable likeness of Thomas Paine, said to 
be the only portrait of that celebrated individ- 
ual which was painted from life, is one of the 
most noticeable features of this collection. 

An Old Majolica Inkstand. — Among the 
ceramics exhibited in this establishment is a 
curious old inkstand which bears the signifi- 
cant date of 1492. Extremely clumsy in form, 
it is agreeable to look upon because of its har- 
monious coloring. The inscription on the 
cartouche, " I. H. S. ," with cross and nails, and 
the device of the Medici family, — the six pills, 
— on a shield in the lower division, testify to 
the correctness of the supposition that this relic 
was manufactured in the Caffagiolo factory 
near Florence, for use in a monastery, thus 
relegating the formation of the quaint struc- 
ture to a time only twenty-six years later than 
the Heraldic Shield which was exhibited with 
the Castellani collection at Philadelphia, in 
1876. The Cluny Museum in Paris, and the 
Museum at Sevres, possess other pieces of the 
same school. 

From Union Square to Twenty-third 
Street, Broadway is occupied by large retail 
dry-goods houses, and carpet and jewelry es- 
tablishments; as well as by florists, caterers, 



78 MANHA TTAN. 

dealers in ceramics, etc., all of whom draw 
their patronage from among the wealthy class. 

"Choosing the Bride," by Makoffsky. — 
This elaborate painting, which is a companion 
piece to the "Russian Wedding Feast," is ex- 
hibited in Schumann's uptown jewelry store, 
at the corner of Broadway and 22d Street. 
The critical moment when a Russian prince 
selects his consort from a group of radiant 
beauties is the subject here portrayed. The 
dramatic action is not so fine in this as in the 
first-named picture, but the costumes and 
jewels of the noble damsels are quite as elabo- 
rate, and the scheme of color is harmonious 
and brilliant. An admission fee of twenty- 
five cents, which is appropriated to charity, is 
charged. 

The Residence Built for Samuel J. 
TiLDEN is in Gramercy Park, two blocks east 
of Broadway, at Nos. 14 and 15 East 20th 
Street. The stone carvings on the exterior of 
this edifice are of great artistic excellence, the 
entire fa9ade being enriched with divisional 
bands of beautifully sculptured foliage, and 
bas-relief figures cut in sunken disks, while 
the delicately chiselled heads of Shakespeare, 
Milton, Franklin, Goethe, and Dante, appear 
on a panel near the eastern entrance. 

The Players' Club House, at No. 16 East 



MAMHATTAKK 79 

20th Street, is a gift to actors from the 
founder and president of the chib, Edwin 
Booth. The building contains the libraries of 
Mr. Booth and Lawrence Barrett, and also the 
play bills collected by Augustin Daly. A 
general rendezvous of players takes place in 
these apartments every Saturday night. 

Gramercy Park is open to residents in the 
immediate neighborhood only, Cyrus W. 
Field, David Dudley Field, John Bigelow, and 
other well-known persons, occupy houses in 
this attractive locality. 

Lexington Avenue, which extends north- 
ward from Gramercy Park, contains the former 
home of Peter Cooper. The residence of the 
philanthropist was at No. 9. 

The College of the City of New York 
stands at the southeastern corner of Lexington 
Avenue and 23d Street. Each year nearly 
one thousand young men here receive tuition 
in a classical, scientific, or mechanical course. 
A post-graduate course in engineering occu- 
pies two additional years. The college con- 
tains a fine library, a cabinet of natural history, 
and apparatus for the use of the scientific 
department. The institution is maintained at 
an annual cost to the city of about one hundred 
and fifty-three thousand dollars. 

Bellevue Hospital Medical College, and 



8o MANHA TTAN. 

Training School for Nurses are at the foot of 
East 26th Street. This hospital was founded 
in 1826, and is under the control of the city 
government; but the college, an independent 
institution, was not organized until 1861. 

The Associated Artists occupy premises 
at No. 115 West 23d Street. This is a stock- 
company of women, who are placing a com- 
mercial value on the talents of women, and 
who expect eventually to make of their or- 
ganization a School of Design which shall be 
distinctly American. Embroidering and dec- 
orative drawing and designing for wall paper, 
tapestries, and fabrics, are taught to the pupils 
of this establishment, w^ho become a part of 
the institution after a three years' course. To 
those persons who are investigating the prog- 
ress of decorative art nothing can be more 
delightful than a few moments spent in exam- 
ining the products of this fairy workshop. 
Silks, soft and fine as any woven in Oriental 
looms, and with colors so perfectly combined 
that artists frequently suppose the material 
to have been treated with the brush, delight 
the eye, while the patriotic sense is gratified 
with the knowledge that only American flora 
and fauna form the basis of the designs for 
these exquisite fabrics. Many color studies in 
textiles and tapestries are displayed, in which 



MANHATTAN. 8i 

the workmanship seems little short of marvel- 
lous. A characteristic feature of the tapes- 
try-work is the poetic thought woven in 
with the threads. At the present time deft 
fingers are producing a series of curtains that 
portray the heroines of Hawthorne's novels 
with such unmistakable originality of design 
that the artist, Dora Wheeler, is immediately 
recognized. Visitors are welcome at the show- 
rooms of this establishment throughout the 
day. 

The National Academy of Design. — 
The beautiful structure of artistically blended 
gray and white marble and blue stone, stand- 
ing at the northwestern corner of Fourth 
Avenue and 23d Street is in part a copy of the 
Palace of the Doges in Venice, its architectural 
design being the Italian Gothic. The vesti- 
bule floor is of variegated marbles, and a mas- 
sive marble stairway leads to the galleries 
above. Here every spring and autumn, an 
exhibition of new paintings takes place, and 
prizes are awarded. Other organizations 
sometimes rent these galleries for the display 
of their art work among them the American 
Water Color Society holds an annual exhibition 
during the month of January, which is ex- 
tremely popular. Free art schools and lecture 
rooms, open to both sexes from October until 
6 



82 MANHATTAN. 

June of every year, occupy the first and wsecond 
floors of the building. 

The inception of the Academy, now the 
foremost art institution in the country, was 
due to Professor S. B. Morse, who was himself 
an artist of no mean ability. About the year 
1 8 1 5 he founded a society of artists of which 
he became president, and before which he 




THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF DESIGN. 

delivered the first course of lectures on the 
fine arts ever given in this part of the world. 
Although this organization thrived, its exist- 
ence was nomadic until 1863, when the present 
building was erected, and dedicated w^ith im- 
posing ceremonies. 



MANHA TTAN. 83 

The members of the institution consist of 
academicians (N.A.), and associates (A.N. A.), 
who acquire either rank of professional dis- 
tinction by merit. 

The Young Men's Christian Association 
Building is opposite the Academy, at the 
southwestern corner of 23d Street and Fourth 
Avenue. This edifice, which is French Re- 
naissance in design, contains a reception and 
reading room; a concert hall, seating four 
thousand, a lecture room, library, gymnasium, 
and bowling-alley ; besides parlors, class-rooms 
and baths. The building is open every day 
in the year, including holidays, and many 
opportunities for instruction and entertainment 
are afforded the members. The association 
has six branch organizations in different parts 
of the city. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE THIRD AFTERNOON. 

The American Art Association. — The 
beautiful galleries of this institution at No. 6 
East 23d Street, usually are occupied with 
interesting- collections of paintings. The as- 
sociation holds two exhibitions yearly, at which 
prizes valued at two thousand dollars are 
awarded for the best paintings, while gold 
medals worth one hundred dollars are bestowed 
for works of secondary merit. 

Madison Square, which is bounded at the 
south and north by 23d and 26th streets, and 
at the east and west by Madison Avenue and 
the intersection of Broadway with Fifth Ave- 
nue, contains about six acres of ground, made 
beautiful with shade trees, flowers, and a 
fountain. 

Until the year 1847 this part of the Island 
was rather unsightly, and previous to the time 
of its improvement, was occupied only by Cor- 
poral Thompson's little yellow tavern, and an 
old arsenal which was utilized as a house of 
refuge. At present this park is the centre of 



86 MANHATTAN, 

a world of fashion and amusement. The 
Madison Avenue side is occupied by the Metro- 
politan Life Insurance Company Building, — 
an example of the Italian Renaissance style of 
architecture, very rich in its material and de- 
tail, — a Presbyterian church, and the building 
which formerly belonged to the Jockey Club, 
and later to the Union League, but is now the 
home of the University Club. In this organi- 
zation membership is restricted to men who 
have graduated from some college, university, 
or professional school, from the United States 
^lilitary Academy at West Point, or the United 
States Naval Academy at Annapolis. 

Madison Square Garden. — The most con- 
spicuous building in this vicinity is situated 
in Madison Avenue, between 26th and 27th 
vStreets. Its ornate style attracts immediate 
attention. The architectural design, partly 
Moorish, and partly Spanish Renaissance, is 
novel to us, and the arrangement of electric 
lights, fantastically grouped about the minaret 
domes and the tower, until they terminate in a 
brilliant crescent under the feet of the bronze 
Diana at the apex, is an exceedingly pleasant 
vision, suggesting unlimited delights for sum- 
mer evenings in the garden on the roof. The 
auditorium has a seating capacity of fifteen 
thousand. Boxes and galleries surround its 



MAN HA TTAN. 



87 



walls, and tables as well as chairs, are placed 
on the main floor for the benefit of those who 
desire refreshment during the performances. 
Concerts, spectacular displays, horse, bench, 
and flower shows, that require commodious 
accommodations, usually form the attractions 




MADISON SQUARE GARDEN. 



at this place. The northern portion of the 
building contains a small theatre and a beauti- 
ful concert hall. An elevator carries visitors 
to the tower for twenty-five cents. 

The old Madison Square Garden, which for- 
merly occupied this site, had previously been 
known as Gilmore's Garden; earlier, it was 



88 MANHATTAN. 

Barnum's Hippodrome, and for many years 
before that time it was a passenger station of 
the Harlem Railway. 

Madison Avenue extends northward from 
this point to Harlem. 

The Monument to Admiral Farragut, 
which stands at the northwestern corner of 
Madison Square, is much admired. It was 
erected by the Farragut Memorial Association, 
and the statue was made by Augustus St. 
Gaudens. 

The Worth Monument, at the intersection 
of Broadway and Fifth Avenue, is the most 
prominent object in Madison Square. It is a 
granite obelisk, erected by the corporation of 
the city in memory of Major-General Worth ; 
who first achieved distinction at Chippewa, 
under General Scott in 1841, and afterw^ard 
participated in the war with Florida Indians, — 
1840 to 1842, — and in the Mexican struggle of 
1846 to 1848. The name of Anthony Street 
was changed to Worth Street in honor of this 
soldier. 

The Statue of William H. Seward, by 
Randolph Rogers, which is placed at the south- 
western corner of the park, represents that 
statesman in a sitting posture, surrounded by 
huge tomes. It was unveiled in 1876. 

The white marble building at the north- 



MANIJA TTAiV. 89 

western corner of Fifth Avenue and 23d 
Street, is the Fifth Avenue Hotel, which at 
the time of its completion in 1859, caused the 
residents of the city to wonder how so costly 
an edifice could obtain sufficient patronage at 
this then remote locality. 

Goupil's Art Gallery, at the corner of 
2 2d Street and Fifth Avenue, always contains 
a choice assortment of paintings. The other 
standard galleries are: Wunderlich's, No. 868 
Broadway, Schaus's, No. 204 Fifth Avenue, 
Reichard's, No. 226 Fifth Avenue, Avery's, 
No. 368 Fifth Avenue, and Keppel's, No. 20 
East 1 6th Street. 

Twenty-third Street. — West of Madison 
Square, 23d Street for one or two blocks, is a 
modified reproduction of 14th Street, although 
it is somewhat less democratic in character. 
The business buildiuQf at the southeastern cor- 
ner of 23d Street and Sixth Avenue was for- 
merly Edwin Booth's elegant theatre, built 
and made famous by Booth himself. 

The Masonic Temple, which is headquarters 
for the ]\Iasonic order throughout the State, 
occupies the northeastern corner of the same 
thoroughfares. This building was erected in 
1 867. For several blocks north and south from 
this point Sixth Avenue vies in importance 
with Broadway as a retail business street. 



90 MANHA TTAN. 

Eden Musee. — This attractive museum is 
situated on the northern side of 23d Street, 
between vSixth Avenue and Madison Square. 
The exhibition mainly consists of life-like 
wax figures of noted persons grouped in 
historical tableaux, and musical performances 
are given. 

Madison Square Theatre. — This is a 
beautiful little house, just west of Madison 
Square, in 24th Street. The decorations are 
exceedingly artistic. The drop-curtain is 
a marvel of embroidery, worked by the 
skilled hands of the Associated Artists. A 
novel feature of this house is its double stage, 
one part of which can be lifted and arranged 
while the performance is being conducted upon 
the other. The orchestra occupies a gallery 
above the stage. 

Nymphs and Satyr, by William Bougue- 
reau. — This great painting which is exhibited 
in the Hoffman House Cafe, in 24th Street, 
opposite the Madison Square Theatre, is con- 
sidered by the eminent artist himself to be 
one of his most important works. The trees 
seem to balance in the wind, and the flesh tints 
are superb; the attitudes of the nymphs, — 
who pose in every variety of position as they 
play with a satyr whom they are endeavoring 
to force into the water, — are such wonderful 



MAh'HATTAN. 9 1 

studies in anatomical structure as to announce 
the master whose art almost conceals the evi- 
dence of art. 

Narcissus, by Correggio, another of the 
choice paintings in this remarkable collec- 
tion, delights the eye with its deep color-tones. 

A Piece of Gobelin Tapestry, -^made for 
Napoleon the Third, — representing the port of 
Marseilles, wnll challenge extreme admiration 
for the delicacy of its tints and the perfection 
of its design. 

A Piece of Flemish Tapestry, taken from 
Constantinople during the Russo-Turkish War, 
represents a scene at the wedding feast of 
Queen Hester. 

Other fine paintings decorate the walls, and 
statues, placques, vases, rare plants, and curious 
old clocks, adorn this most palatial of bar- 
rooms. Ladies visit the cafe, even without 
the attendance of gentlemen, during any hour 
of the day. 

The Hoffman House. — Many beautiful 
examples of decorative art are displayed in 
this hotel. The gorgeous banquet hall sug- 
gests "Aladdin's cave," and the private din- 
ing rooms, modelled from French, Turkish, 
Moorish, and other foreign apartments, and 
filled with curiosities from the civilizations of 
the old world, are most interesting. A collec- 



92 MANHATTAN. 

tion of fine paintings hangs on the walls of 
the parlors and corridors. 

North Broadway. — Several of the most 
popular theatres occupy prominent positions 
in Broadway between Madison Square and 
34th Street. Among them may be mentioned 
Daly's, Palmer's (formerly Wallack's), The 
Fifth Avenue, Hermann's, etc. The Broadway 
Tabernacle, a Congregational church of which 
Dr. Taylor is the pastor, stands at the corner of 
34th Street, where Broadway crosses Sixth 
Avenue. The bronze statue of William E. 
Dodge standing in the triangular space near 
by, was erected by the merchants of New York, 
in 1885. The Park Theatre is conspicuous at 
the left. 

The Casino, a Moorish structure at the 
southeastern corner of Broadway and 39th 
Street, is devoted to the presentation of comic 
opera. The architectural design of this edifice 
is an adaptation of the Palace of the Alhambra 
in Spain, excellently carried out in detail. 
The interior contains a bewildering variety of 
arches, galleries, and foyers, so pleasing as 
frequently to divert attention from the stage. 
A lantern-lighted garden on the roof offers a 
delightful resort for summer evenings. 

The Metropolitan Opera House. — The 
edifice occupying an entire block between 40th 



MANHA TTAN. 93 

and 41st Streets, is an example of a very simple 
treatment of Italian Renaissance. The audi- 
torium, which is enormous, contains one hun- 
dred and twenty-two boxes, each of which is 
connected with a salon in which refreshments 
may be served or visits received. Smaller 
rooms for concerts and lectures also are pro- 
vided, and are constantly patronized. The 
building was opened in 1883, under the man- 
agement of Henry Abbey. Since that time it 
has been principally devoted to splendid pre- 
sentations of the German and Italian opera, 
although great balls and mass meetings are 
held here during the season. 

The Working-Men's School. — This insti- 
tution is situated east of Seventh Avenue (into 
which the car enters at 43d Street), at 109 East 
54th Street. Educators and philanthropists 
from all parts of the world visit this place in 
order to study the methods that have been 
successfully conducted by the Society for Eth- 
ical Culture. 

Music Hall. — The close of the musical 
season of 1890-91 was made memorable by the 
opening of the edifice at the southeastern cor- 
ner of Seventh Avenue and 57th Street, an 
event made possible through the munificence 
of Andrew Carnegie. This stately structure, 
a very good example of the Italian Renaissance 



94 MANHA TTAN. 

style of architecture, will change the centre of 
musical life from the vicinity of Union Square 
to the Central Park region, — close to the spot 
at the corner of Seventh Avenue and 59th 
Street, where Theodore Thomas, in his sum- 
mer garden concerts, may be said to have in- 
augurated his career as a musical conductor. 

The building contains a series of halls 
adapted to every variety of musical assem- 
blage. Main Hall has a seating capacity of 
about three thousand, and is very perfect in 
its ventilation and acoustic properties. Recital 
Hall, Chamber Music Hall, and Chapter Room, 
comprise the other apartments, all of which 
are provided with the requirements necessary 
for the purpose indicated by their names, and 
decorated with tasteful elegance. 

The Broadway Line terminates at 59th 
Street and Seventh Avenue, where the Na- 
varro Flats, called the "Madrid," "Cordova," 
"Lisbon," and "Granada," are situated. The 
cost of these sumptuous apartment houses was 
more than seven millions of dollars. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE FOURTH MORNING. 

Fourth and Madison Avenues. — The up- 
town portion of Fourth Avenue extends north- 
ward from Union Square to 32d Street. 

All Souls' Unitarian Church, formerly 
presided over by the celebrated Dr. Bellows, 
stands at the southeastern corner of Fourth 
Avenue and 20th Street. The New York 
Flower Mission receives its supplies in the 
basement of this building. 

The American Society for the Preven- 
tion OF Cruelty to Animals, — made effect- 
ive by the herculean efforts of the late Henry 
Bergh, — formerly occupied the building at the 
22d Street corner, but is now temporarily dom- 
iciled at No. 10 East 22d Street. The old 
Boston Post Road turned eastward at this 
point, passing along the outskirts of Rose Hill 
Farm, the home of General Gates. 

The Lyceum Theatre is directly north of 
the Academy of Design. This play-house is 
renowned for the moral character of its pres- 

95 



96 MANHATTAN. 

entations. The Fourth Avenue Studio Build- 
ing is at the corner of 25 th Street. Besides 
this, and the one already mentioned in loth 
Street, the other buildings devoted exclusively 
to artists are: "The Sherwood," in West 57th 
Street near Sixth Avenue, " The Rembrandt," 
near Seventh Avenue in West 57th Street, 
"The Holbein," 139 to 145 West 55th Street, 
Nos. 140 to 146, at the opposite side of the 
same street, and No. 106 West 55th Street. 
There are also a number of studios in the 
Young Men's Christian Association Building, 
and in the old Manhattan Club Building, at 
the corner of Fifth Avenue and 15th Street. 
To some of these studios visitors are admitted 
at any time, while a special reception day is 
appointed for others. The janitors usually 
can tell what studios are open. 

Murray Hill rises at 32d Street, where 
the ground is tunnelled for the passage of the 
horse cars. Above the tunnel a series of 
openings surrounded with flowers, gives the 
street the appropriate name of Park Avenue. 
At the corner of 32d Street stands a building 
which was erected by the late A. T. Stewart 
for a working-women's home. The experi- 
ment proved a failure because of the strin- 
gent rules, and the structure was converted 
into a hotel called "The Park Avenue." 



MANHA TTAN. 97 

Considerable bric-a-brac from the Stewart 
Mansion now decorates the interior of this 
building. 

The Church of the Messiah, of which the 
Rev. Robert CoHyer is the pastor, is at the cor- 
ner of Park Avenue and 34th Street. This rise 
of ground once formed the estate of Robert 
Murray, the " Quaker Merchant of the Revolu- 
tion," and the father of Lindley Murray, the 
grammarian. The place was known as " Inclen- 
berg," and became historic through the adroit 
diplomacy of Mrs. Murray, who, by her hospi- 
tality and grace, detained the British officers, 
Howe, Clinton, and Cornwallis; while Putnam 
and his column, guided by Aaron Burr, passed 
within half a mile of her house, at the time of 
their retreat to Harlem. 

The Grand Central Railway Station, 
facing the tunnel at 42 d Street, is the ter- 
mini for the New York Central, the New 
York and New Haven, and the New York and 
Harlem railways, each of which has offices 
in the building, as well as passenger rooms. 
The space for trains is covered with a glass 
roof, having a single arch of a span of two 
hundred feet, and an altitude of one hun- 
dred and ten feet. The length of the building 
is six hundred and ninety-five feet. About 
one hundred and twenty-five trains arrive and 
7 



98 MANHA TTAN. 

depart daily, but confusion or crowding is 
almost unknown. 

The site on which the station stands was 
once a cornfield belonging to the Murrays, 
into which the American soldiers plunged in 
their precipitate retreat from Kip's Bay. On 
a cross-road at about 43d Street, they were 
met by Washington, who is said to have been 
extremely severe in his condemnation of their 
panic. 

Madison Avenue. — At 44th Street the 
horse-car tracks turn into Madison Avenue, 
whence they extend northward to Harlem. 

St. Bartholomew's Church, a good speci- 
men of the Romanesque style of architecture, 
stands at the 44th Street corner. 

The Manhattan Athletic Club House 
at the southeastern corner of 45th Street, is 
an attempt at the Romanesque, with Byzantine 
ornamentation. 

The Railroad Branch of the Young 
Men's Christian Association occupies the 
building at the northeastern corner of 45 th 
Street, This edifice, which also is Roman- 
esque in design, was a liberal contribution 
from Cornelius Vanderbilt. 

Columbia College, which now occupies the 
buildings that cover the entire block between 
49th and 50th Streets, was incorporated in 1754 



MANHA TTAN. 99 

as "Kings College," the necessary funds hav- 
ing been obtained from England. Recitations 
were first heard in the vestry-room of Trinity 
Church, but when a grant of land was obtained 
from the "Church Farm" (in Park Place, near 
the North River), college buildings were 
erected, and occupied by the students until the 
outbreak of the Revolution. After the war it 
became necessary to re-create the institution, 
as the library was found to be scattered and 
the buildings demolished. It was therefore 
re-incorporated in 1784 under its present name, 
and its management was vested in a self-per- 
petuating body of twenty-four trustees. 

Among the many historical personages who 
acquired their scholastic abilities in this insti- 
tution appear the names of Robert R. Living- 
ston, Gouverneur Morris, John Jay, Alexander 
Hamilton, and De Witt Clinton. 

The present buildings were mostly erected 
in 1857, when the Legislature granted twenty 
acres of ground to the college. Since that 
time its income chiefly has been derived from 
rentals of its real estate. In the near future 
the college probably will be removed to a site 
further uptown. The five collegiate depart- 
ments are: the Schools of Art, Mines, Law, 
Political Science, and Medicine. The corps of 
instructors numbers about sixty, and the aver- 



I oo MA NHA TTA N: 

age attendance of students is about eighteen 
hundred. The college library, containing 
one hundred thousand volumes, is free to re- 
spectable strangers, as well as to students. 
Barnard College for women, at No. 343 Madi- 
son Avenue, is under the Columbia College 
instructors. The same regimen is required as 
for the male students. The Medical Depart- 
ment occupies a building in 60th Street, be- 
tween Ninth and Tenth Avenues, which was a 
gift from William H. Vanderbilt. Connected 
with this is the Sloan Maternity Hospital, a 
gift from Mr. Vanderbilt's daughter, Mrs. 
Sloan. These magnificent donations, together 
with the Vanderbilt Free Clinic and Dispen- 
sary, — for which funds were contributed by 
Mr. Vanderbilt's four sons, — place the Colum- 
bia College of Physicians and Surgeons in the 
first rank for facilities as well as for instruction. 
The Woman's Hospital of the State of 
New York is one block eastward, in Fourth 
Avenue. This organization, in which only wom- 
en are treated, was founded by Dr. J.Marion 
Sims, and incorporated in 1857, by seven phil- 
anthropic ladies. The ground upon which the 
building stands formerly contained the re- 
mains of paupers and strangers, that several 
times had been transferred as the city grew 
northward. From here they were removed 



MA NHA TTAN, i o T 

to Hart's Island, their present place of se- 
pulchre. 

A Florentine Palace in Madison Avenue 
at 50th Street, of brown sandstone, with an 
open court leading to three separate en- 
trances, was built, but is not occupied, by 
Henry Villard. Climbing vines add greatly 
to the picturesque effect of this peculiar resi- 
dence. 

The Palace of the Archbishop, at No. 
452, and the rectory, at No. 460, correspond 
architecturally with the cathedral, which, with 
them, forms a group of majestic proportions. 

A Roman Catholic orphan asylum occupies 
the eastern side of the block betw^een 51st and 
5 2d Streets. The elegant Beekman Mansion, 
where the brave spy, Nathan Hale, was tried, 
condemned, and executed, — expressing in his 
last moments regret that he had but one life to 
lose for his country, — was in 51st Street, near 
the East River. Lenox Lyceum, a popular 
concert hall, is between 58th and 59th Streets. 
B'nai Jeshuron, a beautiful Jewish synagogue 
of Moorish design, is near 65th Street. 

All Souls' Church (Episcopalian), of 
which the Rev. R. Heber Newton is pastor, is 
at the northeastern corner of 66th Street. 

The Seventh Regiment Armory. — At 66th 
Street it will be necessary to leave the cars 



102 MANHATTAN. 

and walk eastward for a short distance. The 
armory, in Fourth Avenue, between 66th and 
67th Streets, is a massive edifice of red brick, 
with granite facings, constructed without re- 
gard to any particular style of architecture, 
but very perfect in its interior appointments. 
The main drill-room is very spacious, the 
dimensions being two hundred by three hun- 
dred feet. Visitors are admitted on applica 
tion to the janitor. 

Many interesting buildings are situated in 
this vicinity. Mt. Sinai Hospital is at the 
corner of 66th Street and Lexington Avenue, 
one block east of Fourth Avenue. The Chapin 
Home for the Aged and Infirm is in East 66th 
Street, at No. 151. The American Institute 
Hall, — in which industrial exhibitions are held 
every autumn, — is still further east, in Third 
Avenue at 63d Street. The Central Turn- 
verein Building is in 67th Street, east of Third 
Avenue. A Moorish structure in 67th Street, 
west of Third Avenue, betrays the Jewish 
tabernacle. The Headquarters of the Fire 
Department are at Nos. 157 and 159 East 67th 
Street. Seventy-four companies are located 
in different parts of the city, and over one 
thousand alarm-boxes are placed at the street 
corners. The maintenance of the department, 
— in which about two thousand men are em- 



MA Nil A TTAN. 1 03 

ployed, — costs the city nearly two millions of 
dollars annually. A Deaf Mute Asylum is in 
Lexington Avenue, between 67tli and 68tli 
Streets. A Foundling Asylum (Roman Cath- 
olic) is in 68th Street, near Third Avenue. 
The Baptist Home for the Aged and Infirm is in 
68th Street, near Fourth Avenue, and Hahne- 
mann Hospital occupies a block in Fourth 
Avenue, between 67th and 68th Streets. 

The Normal College for Women, at the 
northeastern corner of 68th Street and Fourth 
Avenue, is under the control of the Board of 
Education, it being a part of the common 
school system. About one thousand and six 
hundred students annually are registered in 
this institution, seventy-five per cent of whom 
become teachei's in the public schools. The 
college curriculum includes Latin, physics, 
chemistry, and natural science, German, 
French, drawing, and music; and the cost of 
maintenance is about one hundred thousand 
dollars a year. This edifice, which is in the 
secular Gothic style, with a lofty Victoria 
tower, is unsurpassed by any similar structure 
in the country. 

The Union Theological Seminary of the 
Presbyterian Church occupies the group of 
handsome buildings at the western side of 
Fourth Avenue, between 69th and 70th Streets. 



1 04 MA NHA T TA N. 

This property is valued at two million-s of 
dollars. The Presbyterian Hospital covers 
the block between 70th and 71st Streets, 
and Madison and Fourth Avenues. The 
Freundschaft Club House is in 72 d Street, 
east of Fourth Avenue, and the Flemish 
mansion, built for Mr. Tiffany, but until re- 
cently the elegant home of Mr. Henry Villard, 
is in 72 d Street, at the northwestern corner of 
Madison Avenue. 

After inspecting the exterior of this unique, 
but palatial residence, the visitor will be pleased 
to begin the tour of the principal residence 
street of the city, — far-famed 

FIFTH AVENUE. 

The Lenox Library Building, which 
stands in Fifth Avenue, between 71 stand 70th 
Streets, was erected by James Lenox, at a cost 
of over one million dollars, and endowed by 
him with a permanent fund of two hundred 
and fifty thousand dollars. An example of the 
French classical Renaissance style of archi- 
tecture this imposing structure is made most 
pleasing to the eye because of the extreme 
purity of its design. A fagade of ninety-two 
feet faces Fifth Avenue, which, with the wings 
that support it on either side, forms a court 
that is completed by a high stone wall with 



Io6 MANHA TTAN. 

massive iron gates. The material used in the 
construction of this building resembles light 
granite, but is in reality Lockport limestone. 

The library, which occupies the wings, con- 
tains about thirty thousand volumes, in- 
cluding: Shakesperiana, Americana, many 
first editions of the Bible, a perfect copy of 
the " Mazarin Bible," (the first complete printed 
book known, supposed to be the product of 
Gutenberg and Faust, at Mainz, in 1450) ; a 
large folio Latin Bible printed by Koberger, 
at Nuremberg, 1477, — which is densely inter- 
lined in the handwriting of Melancthon, — some 
"block books," that represent the stage of 
printing before movable types superseded 
the Chinese fashion of cutting the page on a 
wooden block, and many rare books from the 
early presses of Europe, the United States, 
and Mexico. There is also a valuable collec- 
tion of manuscripts, to which recently has 
been added a twelve-thousand-dollar treasure 
superbly illustrated by Giulio Clovio. The 
picture gallery, occupying the main por- 
tion of the second floor, contains many fine 
paintings, chiefly modern. Among them are 
several Wilkies, Verboeckhovens, Stuarts, 
Reynolds's, and Leslies; also two Turners 
and two Copleys ; besides an Andrea del Sarto, 
a Delaroche, a Gainsborough, and a Horace 



MANHATTAN. 107 

Vernet. Munkacsy's " Blind Milton Dictating 
'Paradise Lost' to his Daughters," — which was 
considered to be the gem of the Paris Exposi- 
tion in 1878, — is one of the most attractive 
paintings in the gallery. The collection also 
embraces a large number of portraits, includ- 
ing one of Bunyan, — which is believed to be an 
original, — and five of Washington, three hav- 
ing been painted by Rembrandt Peale, one by 
James Peale, and one full-length by Stuart. 
This gallery recently has been further en- 
riched by the late Mrs. Robert L. Stewart, who 
bequeathed to it her valuable paintings. 

The library is open every week-day, except 
Monday, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. No admis- 
sion fee is charged. 

Between the Lenox Library Building and 
59th Street many stately mansions with broad 
porches and richly decorated vestibules, sug- 
gest a most inviting hospitality. This por- 
tion of Fifth Avenue, and the streets that lead 
eastward from it, quite recently have become 
a fashionable residence quarter. 

The Progress Club, an organization of He- 
brew gentlemen, occupies the handsome 
building at the northeastern corner of 63d 
Street. This edifice is Italian Renaissance in 
design. 

The approach to the park entrance in 59th 



Io8 MANHATTAN. 

Street, called the plaza, is surrounded by three 
elaborately constructed hotels. The elegant 
residence of Mrs. E. B. Alexander is at No. 4 
West 58th Street. The home of Cornelius 
Vanderbilt, at the northwestern corner of 57th 
Street, is a beautiful specimen of the modern 
French Renaissance style of architecture. The 
English Gothic house at the southwestern cor- 
ner of the same street, is the residence of 
Ex-Secretary William C. A¥hitney. C. P. Hunt- 
ington is erecting a handsome mansion oppo- 
site, at the southeastern corner. The elabo- 
rate edifice in the early Gothic style, at the 
corner of 55th Street, is the Presbyterian 
church over which Dr. John Hall presides. 
St. Luke's Hospital occupies the northwestern 
corner of 54th Street. The Gothic structure 
at the corner of 53d Street, is St. Thomas' 
Episcopal Church. The interior of this build- 
ing, which is particularly pleasing both in color 
and in architectural design, contains paintings 
by John La Farge. 

The Vanderbilt Residences. — The re- 
markably beautiful home of W. K. Vanderbilt, 
at the northwestern corner of 5 2d Street, is a 
very fine example of French Renaissance (just 
emerging from the Gothic) of the time of Fran- 
9ois the First. The connected brown-stone 
houses between 5 2d and 51st Streets, are 



MA NHA TTAN. 109 

occupied by the widow of William H, Vander- 
bilt, and her daughter, Mrs, Sloan. Mrs. Van- 
derbilt possesses a very choice collection of 
paintings, and her gallery has been very freely 
opened to the public in the past ; but the abuse 
of this privilege, having necessitated much 
more rigid rules, it is now quite difficult to 
obtain admission. The Roman Catholic Male 
Orphan Asylum is opposite. No. 634 is the 
residence of D. O. Mills. 

The Cathedral of St. Patrick. — Be- 
tween 51st and 50th Streets stands a white 
marble edifice, which is the finest church 
building in the United States. Its elaborate 
architecture is of the decorated Gothic, or geo- 
metric style, similar to that of the cathedrals 
of Rheims, Cologne, and Amiens, on the con- 
tinent, and the naves of York Minster, Exeter, 
and Westminster, in England. Its length is 
three hundred and six feet, its width is one 
hundred and twenty feet, and its towers are 
three hundred and thirty-five feet, and nine 
inches in height. The Fifth Avenue entrance 
is at present very imposing, but its effective- 
ness will be greatly enhanced by the statues 
of the twelve apostles that eventually are to be 
placed within the grand portal. 

The same architectural style is preserved 
throughout the interior of the cathedral. 




ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL. 



MANHATTAN. Ill 

Massive columns of white marble, elaborately 
sculptured, support springing arches of exqui- 
site proportions. The ceiling is groined with 
richly moulded ribs and foliage bosses. The 
high altar is of marble, inlaid with semi-precious 
stones, with the divine passion carved in bas- 
relief on its panels. The tabernacle over the 
altar is decorated with Roman mosaics, pre- 
cious stones, and a door of fine gilt bronze. 
The throne of the cardinal, which is Gothic in 
design, is at the right of the sanctuary. Among 
the beautiful stained-glass Avindows there are 
thirty-seven memorials. Many paintings adorn 
the walls, the most admirable of which, by 
Costazzini, hangs over the altar of the Holy 
Family. When the Chapel of Our Lady, 
which is included in the design, is completed, 
the entire cost of construction will be about 
two million, and five hundred thousand 
dollars. 

The cathedral was projected by Archbishop 
Hughes in 1850, and dedicated by Cardinal 
McCloskey in 1879. ^^ i^ open every day in 
the week. 

The home of the Democratic Club is at No. 
617. 

The church edifice at the corner of 48th 
Street, is one of three belonging to the Colle- 
giate Dutch Reformed Society, next to Trin- 



112 MANHATTAN. 

ity, the oldest and wealthiest ecclesiastical 
corporation in the country. This organization, 
chartered by William the Third in 1696, vests 
the title and management of its large property 
in a legislative body, called the consistory, in 
which each of the three churches is repre- 
sented. The one just mentioned, the third of 
the series, is a fine specimen of ornamental 
Gothic architecture in brown stone. The 
residence of Jay Gould is at No. 579. The 
rooms of the American Yacht Club are in 
No. 574. No. 562 is the residence of J.W. 
Harper, Jr. The Windsor Hotel is opposite, 
between 46th and 47th streets. The Church 
of the Heavenly Rest (Episcopalian) is just 
above 45th Street. The residence of Chaun- 
cey M. Depew is around the corner, at No. 
22 East 45th Street. 

The Church of the Divine Paternity 
(Universalist) , long known as Dr. Chapin's 
church, is at the southwestern corner of 45th 
Street. The interior decoration of this edifice 
is quite a departure from orthodox ecclesias- 
tical styles. Musical services are held here 
Sunday evenings that offer a rare treat to visi- 
tors. Rev. Charles Eaton is the present 
pastor. 

Temple Emanuel. — The attractive edifice 
with minaret towers, at the northeastern corner 



MANHATTAN. I13 

of 43d vStreet, is the finest vSpecimen of Sara- 
cenic architecture in the city. The interior 
also is very elaborate, being profusely deco- 
rated Avith rich oriental colors. Rabbi Gott- 
heil, who preaches in this synagogue, is popu- 
lar with both Jew and Gentile. 

The Century Club House, at No. 7 West 
43d Street, is occupied by a society of the 
most influential literary, artistic, and profes- 
sional celebrities. This association, founded 
in 1847, has but recently erected its present 
home, the ornate style of which represents the 
school of Italian Renaissance. 

The Reservoir. — The distributing reser- 
voir of the Croton water- works, between 42 d 
and 41st Streets, is one hundred and fifteen 
feet above tide-water, and has a capacity of 
twenty millions of gallons. Its sombre stone 
walls covered with vines, are rather pictur- 
esque than otherwise. 

Bryant Park. — At the rear of the reservoir 
is another restful shady spot in the midst of 
the city's busy life. This plot of ground was 
covered in 1853, by the Crystal Palace, a build- 
ing constructed of iron and glass, and erected 
for the purposes of an international exhibition. 
As a novelty it created great enthusiasm, and 
the display of sculpture and painting gave a 
special impetus to the patronage and culture 



114 MANHATTAN. 

of the fine arts. An attempt was made to 
maintain a perpetual art exhibition in the pal- 
ace, bnt the worthy effort failed. The " House 
of Glass" was also the scene of a magnificent 
ovation to Cyrus W. Field, when, in 1858, the 
Atlantic cable had abolished the ocean as a 
barrier of intercourse. Shortly after this 
memorable event the beautiful building, with 
its glittering dome and lofty galleries, was 
destroyed by fire. 

A colossal bronze bust of Washington Irving, 
which stands near the 40th Street entrance to 
the park, was executed by Beer, a European 
sculptor, and presented to the city by a private 
citizen, in 1866. 

The Republican Club occupies commodious 
quarters at No. 450 Fifth Avenue. 

The Union League Club House. — The 
elaborate building of red brick and brown 
stone, at the northeastern corner of 39th Street, 
is Italian Renaissance in design, and occupies 
a site which displays its architectural features 
to very fine advantage. The interior decora- 
tions are extremely tasteful, and the arrange- 
ment of the halls, galleries, and various rooms 
is well suited to the requirements of cultured 
gentlemen. The library contains over three 
thousand volumes, besides rare collections of 
engravings and etchings. A magnificent 



A/ A NHA TTAN. 115 

fresco by La Farge adorns the ceiling of the 
dining-room. Landscape paintings, and por- 
traits that are owned by the club, hang on the 
walls of the different apartments, but the gal- 
leries are reserved for monthly exhibitions of 
loan paintings. To these, ladies are admitted 
if provided with cards from members. The 
annual reception given by this club, is always 
one of the most brilliant of the New York 
season. 

The Union League, really the child of the 
United States Sanitary Commission, was or- 
ganized in 1 863 , as a league of men of " absolute 
and unqualified loyalty to the United States," 
who were unwavering in their efforts to sup- 
press the Rebellion. The club is still the 
stronghold of the Republican party, but since 
the war it has been more social than political 
in its character. 

The home of Austin Corbin is at No. 425. 
The rooms of the St. Nicholas Club are at No. 
415. This society is composed exclusively of 
gentlemen of the Knickerbocker stock, the 
families of whom resided in New York State 
prior to 1785. The Brick Church (Presbyte- 
rian) is at the 37th Street corner. A former 
edifice belonging to this society once was a 
conspicuous feature of City Hall Park. No. 
400 is the home of Robert G. Ingersoll. Pierre 



ii6 MANHATTAN. 

Lorillard lives near by, at No. 389. One of 
the oldest and most fashionable of clubs, the 
New York, occupies the Queen Anne mansion 
at the 35th Street corner. 

The Stewart Mansion. — The former resi- 
dence of the late A. T. Stewart, at the north- 
western corner of 34th Street, was built about 
1866, at a cost of two millions of dollars. It 
is constructed of pure white marble, and arch- 
itecturally is a good exemplification of the 
classical Italian Renaissance. The rare paint- 
ings and statuary that Mr. Stewart collected, 
have been scattered in many directions, and 
the house having been unoccupied for several 
years has had the appearance of a stately 
mausoleum. It is now the home of the Man- 
hattan Club, — an organization intended to ad- 
vance democratic principles, and promote so- 
cial intercourse. 

The residence of William Astor is opposite 
the Manhattan Club House, at No. 350 Fifth 
Avenue. A former residence of the Astors 
recently has been replaced by the hotel at the 
33d Street corner. The Knickerbocker Club 
House is at the northeastern corner of 32d 
Street. The members of this organization 
belong to exclusive social circles. Several 
coaching and polo teams form a part of the 
club institution. A new and elaborate hotel 



MANHATTAN. I17 

at the southwestern corner of 30th vStreet, is 
called the Holland House. Holland Church, the 
second of the Collegiate Dutch Reformed Soci- 
ety series, stands at the 29th Street corner. 
It is built of Vermont marble, in the Roman- 
esque style of architecture, and in front of it is 
placed the "silver-toned bell," to which refer- 
ence has been made. A silver baptismal basin, 
— procured in 1694, and engraved with a sen- 
tence composed by Dominie Selyns, — is an- 
other relic of the past, still in use in the Dutch 
Reformed Church recently erected at the 
corner of Second Avenue and 7th Street. 

The Little Church Around the Cor- 
ner. — Just east from Fifth Avenue, in 29th 
Street, stands the Church of the Transfigura- 
tion, made famous because an actor was per- 
mitted burial rites at its altar. The Reform 
Club (Democratic), organized for the purpose 
of promoting ballot and tariff reform, has its 
home at the northeastern corner of 27th vStreet. 
The Hotel Brunswick is between 27th and 26th 
Streets, and Delmonico's is opposite, at the 
26th Street corner. The historical house for- 
merly the home of Professor S. B. Morse, is at 
No. 5 West 22d Street. The Union Club 
House, at the northwestern corner of 21st 
Street, is the home of a non-political institution 
ranking very high socially. The Lotos Club, 



ii8 MANHATTAN, 

which occupies the house at the northeastern 
corner of the same street, is composed of art- 
ists, actors, literary and professional men. 
This organization gives a series of receptions 
to ladies every year, when artist members ex- 
hibit their new paintings. No. 109 was the 
home of the late August Belmont, who pos- 
sessed one of the finest collections of paintings 
in the country. Chickering Hall, at the i8th 
Street corner, is used for concerts, lectures, 
etc. The Society for Ethical Culture meets 
in this building every Sunday morning to lis- 
ten to the eloquent discourses of Felix Adler. 
Mrs. Marshall O. Roberts lives at No. 107. 
Edwards Pierrepont resided at No. 103, and 
the home of Vice-President Levi P. Morton is 
at No. 85. The First Presbyterian Church is 
at the corner of nth Street, and the Church 
of the Ascension is at the loth Street corner. 

The Ascension of Christ, by John La 
Farge. — This great painting, which occupies 
an area forty feet square, above the altar in the 
last mentioned church edifice, is considered to 
be, by many good critics, the most important 
work of its kind yet produced in the United 
States It is crowded with a multitude of life- 
size figures, ranged in ascending vaults on 
either side of the central Christ. The painting 
is very powerful both in color and sentiment, 



MA NHA TTAN. 119 

and may be viewed any afternoon, as the 
church is open daily at that time. 

General Daniel E. Sickles lives at No. 31, 
.and John Taylor Johnston at No. 8, after 
which residence Fifth Avenue emerges into 

Washington Square. — This inviting park 
occupies about nine acres of ground. In the 
early New York days it was a potter's field, 
surrounded by wretched shanties, and called 
Union Place. When in 1832, the city con- 
verted it into the Washington Parade Ground, 
and expended large sums of money for its 
improvement, fashionable residents were at- 
tracted to the locality, who gave to it the 
aristocratic features that have characterized 
it to the present time. 

Washington Square has been the scene of 
several brilliant pageants, one of the most 
elaborate of which occurred November 1830, 
as a public demonstration of the sympathetic 
joy which America felt for the French people, 
who had dethroned their faithless and tyran- 
nical monarch, Charles the Tenth. This cele- 
bration was participated in by members of 
every profession, officers of the army and 
navy, and a vast number of persons who rep- 
resented the trades. Several individuals were 
present who had borne an active part in our 
own Revolution ; among them were Ex-Presi- 



1 2 o MANHA TTAJV. 

dent Monroe (who died soon afterward) , and 
two persons who had hoisted the American 
flag at the Battery after the departure of the 
British troops in 1783. 

In 1889, during the centennial celebration 
of Washington's inauguration, the Square w^as 
one of the prominent places of interest in the 
city, the military and civic parade both passing 
through it. A wooden arch, erected for this 
occasion at the Fifth Avenue entrance, has 
been reconstructed in stone, as a memo- 
rial of the event. The corner-stone of this 
arch was laid May 1890, the Bible used 
during the ceremony having been the one on 
which Washington took the oath of office as 
first President of the United States. 

A music-pavilion, a fountain, and a statue 
of Garibaldi, are placed in this park; the latter 
ornament, which was a gift to the city from 
Italian residents, is the work of Giovanni 
Turini. 

An unsuccessful attempt has been made to 
secure ground in the Square for an entrance to 
the Hudson River tunnel, which probably will 
come to the surface in an adjacent street. 
This herculean enterprise is expected shortly 
to be complete. Two other equally great 
attempts to connect our Island with the shores 
east and west of us are being made, work hav- 



MANHA TTAN. 121 

ing- been egun on both. One project is to 
tunnel the East River from Long Island to 
our city, and the other is to bridge the Hud- 
son River in order to make New York, instead 
of the towns on the New Jersey side, the ter- 
mini of western railroads. 

The Judson Memorial at Washington 
Square South. — A shining cross, at a height 
of one hundred and sixty-five feet, attracts at- 
tention every evening to a new and peculiar 
religious institution, which has just erected a 
series of buildings including, a church, apart- 
ment house, kindergarten, gymnasium, chil- 
dren's nursery, and young men's club. These 
together form a monument to the memory 
of Adoniram Judson, the first American for- 
eign missionary. The incredible hardships 
and practical Christianity of this hero sug- 
gested a tribute that should be in keeping with 
his useful life. The church, which is free and 
within easy access of the poorer classes, and 
the institutions connected with it, are to be 
supported by the receipts of the apartment 
house. Rev. Edward Judson, a son of the 
missionary, is the present pastor of the church. 
It was he who projected the work, and secured 
by subscription, the funds necessary to mate- 
realize the project. The cost of construction, 
four hundred thousand dollars, was covered 



122 



MANHATTAN. 



by the contributions of wealthy individuals 
from all parts of the country. 

The University of the City of New 
York. — The Gothic structure with four octan- 
gular towers, which stands at the eastern side 




^-''^'st'-'-'m^"-' 



of Washington Square, was erected in 1835, 
the University having been established in 183 1, 
by public-spirited merchants and professional 
men. Professor Samuel F. B. Morse, who was 
one of the first professors of this institution, 
invented the recording telegraph in a room 
within this building ; and in another apartment 
nearby, Professor John W. Draper first applied 
photography to the reproduction of the human 
countenance. Portraits of the chancellors, and 



MANHATTAN, 123 

of many distinguislied members of tlie council 
and faculties, are on the walls of the council- 
room. Henry M. MacCracken, D.D., LL.D. , 
is the present Chancellor. 

The departments consist of the Schools of 
Art, Science, Medicine, and Law, the latter 
recently having been opened to women . There 
is a graduate and an undergraduate division, 
the latter having been successfully carried on 
since 1832, the former only since 1886. 

Another building belonging to this corpora- 
tion, is in 26th Street, near the East River. It 
was erected in 1879, ^^^ is appropriated to 
the Department of Medicine. Much of the 
instruction is given to students in Bellevue 
Hospital, which is close by. 

At No. 9 University Place, — a street extend- 
ing northAvard from the University to Union 
Square, — the New York College for the Train- 
ing of Teachers instructs students Avho already 
have acquired the elements of a secondary 
education, the degree conferred being that of 
Bachelor of Pedagogy. The departments in- 
clude the history, philosophy, and principles 
of education ; the science and art of teaching 
psychology, and manual training. The col- 
lege also provides, by an extension system, 
free classes for teachers, mothers, and chil- 
dren, and a free lecture-course for the public. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE FOURTH AFTERNOON. — THE DRIVE. 

"The Circle," at Eighth Avenue and 59th 
Street, is the point at which Broadway termi- 
nates and the Boulevard begins. 

The Twelfth Regiment Armory is situ- 
ated at the corner of 62 d Street and Ninth 
Avenue, and a similar structure, belonging to 
the Twenty-second Regiment, stands in the 
Boulevard, at 67th Street. 

The Dakota Flats occupy the corner of 
Eighth Avenue and 72d Street. 

The Somerindyke House, which once 
stood in Ninth Avenue, near 75th Street, was 
the home of royalty during its exile. Here 
Louis Philippe and his brothers, the Due de 
Montpensier and the Comte de Beaujolais, 
taught school for their living; and here they 
were visited by Queen Victoria's father, the 
Duke of Kent. 

The Apthorpe Mansion, another residence 

of historic interest, was where Washington 

remained during the evacuation of New York, 

only retiring to Washington Heights with his 

124 



NEAV YORK CITY 

UPPER SECTION 

SCALE OF MILES 




MANHATTAN. I25 

staff, one hour before the British officers took 
possession of the premises. This house stood 
at the corner of Ninth Avenue and 91st Street, 
and only recently has been demolished. 

MORNINGSIDE Park, lately appropriated for 
its present purpose, is now being improved by 
the park commissioners. A retaining- wall 
rests on the western ledge, which forms the 
roadway called Morningside Avenue. Hang- 
ing terraces and a terrace walk greatly enhance 
the beauty of these grounds. The East River, 
the suburban region of Long Island, and the 
wooded hills beyond, are visible from that por- 
tion of the park which soon is to be converted 
into a mall, and embellished with shade trees. 
At I nth Street, where now stands the Leake 
and Watts Orphan Asylum, an elaborate and 
costly Episcopal cathedral is to be erected. 

The Bloomingdale Insane Asylum, — a 
department of the New York Hospital, — is in 
Tenth Avenue, between 114th and 120th 
Streets. This institution received its title from 
one of the many villages that were situated on 
the northern part of the Island before the city 
absorbed them all. The names of some of 
these little towns, — Manhattan ville, Carmans- 
ville, and Harlem, — still remain to designate 
their old localities. 

The Sheltering ARxMS, at Tenth Avenue 



126 MANHATTAN. 

and 129th Street, takes charge of homeless 
children for whom no provision is made in 
other institutions. 

The Convent of the Sacred Heart is 
situated in beautiful grounds above 130th 
Street and east of Tenth Avenue. 

The Hebrew Orphan Asylum is at 136th 
Street. 

The Grange, the former home of Alexan- 
der Hamilton, still stands in Convent Avenue, 
between i42d and 143d Streets. The house, 
which was named from Hamilton's ancestral 
home in Scotland, is well preserved, as is also 
the grove of thirteen trees that the proprietor 
set out as symbols of the thirteen original 
States. This planting was done with much 
pomp and ceremony in 1802, after a banquet 
given for the occasion, and with the speech- 
making, and solemnity of prayer, customary to 
the olden-time festivities. 

Each tree is named for a State, and what is 
most peculiar, each tree has kept pace in its 
growth with the State which it represents. 
New York is the most majestic of the group, 
Pennsylvania is the next, and Rhode Island is 
a mere sapling as compared with the larger 
trees. The "crooked tree," South Carolina, 
at one time turned abruptly out of the grove, 
and then just as abruptly returned and grew 



128 MANHATTAN. 

straight The State for which it was named, — 
the first to secede from the Union, — has been 
one of the most thrifty and flourishing since 
the restoration of peace. 

" The Grange" was the residence of the 
statesman, at the time of his duel with Aaron 
Burr in Weehawken. 

Trinity Cemetery. — The burial-ground for 
Trinity Church parishioners, since suburban 
interments were demanded, has been on either 
side of the Boulevard, above 153d Street. A 
wooden bridge over the roadway connects the 
eastern with the western portion. The Astor 
and the Audubon vaults are in this cemetery, 
also the vault of Madame Jumel. 

The death of Colonel Thomas Knowlton is 
said to have occurred in this vicinity, in 1776, 
when, having been sent by Washington, (who 
was in the Morris House at i6ist Street), to 
learn the position of the enemy, he met the 
advance guard and fell in the battle which fol- 
lowed. 

To the right is "' Breakneck Hill," so named 
by Thomas Jones, — the " fighting Quaker" of 
Lafayette's army, — who had helped to drive 
the British down its declivity. 

The former home of Audubon, the great 
ornithologist, was directly north of Trinity 
Cemetery. Handsome residences are now at- 



MANHA TTAN. 



129 



tached to the original mansion, but the grounds 
are not divided by fences, and the place is very 
properly named Audubon Park. 

The Morris House. — This is one of the 
very few colonial residences extant. It is 
frame, painted white, and with the traditional 
pillars of its time adding dignity to its ripe old 
age. Overlooking the city and the quiet wa- 
ters of the Harlem, it stands on a bluff at the 
corner of St. Nicholas Avenue and i6ist Street. 




THE ROGER MORRIS MANSION. 



At first the property of Colonel Roger Morris, 
whose wife in her maiden days had been Wash- 
ington's sweetheart, it afterward became the 
9 



130 MANHATTAN. 

home of Madame Jumel, who was married to 
x\aron Burr in its drawing-room after the 
downfall of that distinguished individual. 
The most interesting memoirs connected with 
the history of this mansion are of course the 
events that occurred during the time when 
Washington made it his headquarters, while 
Howe occupied the Apthorpe residence, three 
and a half miles distant. 

Washington Bridge was opened for travel 
in 1889. This magnificent structure, in which 
sections of steel are combined and keyed into 
the central arches instead of stone, is two 
thousand and four hundred feet in length, 
eighty feet in width, and one hundred and 
thirty-five feet in height. Its cost of con- 
struction was about two million, and seven 
hundred thousand dollars. From the bridge 
a beautiful view of the valley of the Har- 
lem is obtained. Elegant residences and 
terraced grounds border the shores of the 
river, which is but a tidal channel connected 
with the Hudson by Spuyten Duyvil Creek, at 
the north of Manhattan Island. Through this 
section of the country legends innumerable 
abound, many of them having been immortal- 
ized by Irving. The queer name of the little 
creek recalls one of these, when Antony Cor- 
lear, on a stormy night, attempted to swim 



MANHA TTAN. 



13 



through the water from the island to the main- 
land, declaring that he would cross the current 
"in spyt den Duyvil" (in spite of the devil.) 
Improvements are eventually to be made at 
this point, in order to connect the East River 
with the Hudson by a ship-canal. 

High Bridge, which crosses the Harlem a 
little further south, supports an aqueduct for 




HIGH URIDGE. 



the waters of the Croton River. This stone 
structure is built with thirteen arches that rest 
on solid granite piers. The length of the 
bridge is one thousand four hundred and sixty 
feet, and the crown of the highest arch is one 
hundred and sixteen feet above the river's 
surface. Pedestrians only can cross the bridge. 
McComb's Dam, or Central Bridge, is 
located near the plain where the last general 



132 MAN HA TTA N. 

tion of turfmen were accustomed to speed their 
horses. 

Riverside Park consists mainly of a three- 
mile drive following the brow of the Hudson 
River bluff, from the meadows at 127th Street, 
formerly known as '' Matje Davits* Fly," to 
72 d Street. Elegant residences adorn the 
eastern side of Riverside Avenue, and a good 
deal already has been done to beautify the 
park. At the right of the drive, where the 
ground slopes gently to the water's edge, 
grassplots and groves of shade-trees afford 
pleasant opportunities for a ramble. A mas- 
sive retaining-wall supports the bank, whereon 
thousands of chattering birds build their nests, 
undismayed by the screaming locomotives that 
fly past them, bearing trains of cars over the 
New York Central Road. But the glory of this 
pleasure-ground consists in its extended vista 
of the Hudson. At the west repose in grand- 
eur the Palisades, — a massive perpendicular 
wall of rock extending far toward the north ; — 
at the north the wooded shores of the promon- 
tory, Fort Washington ; at the south the towns 
of New Jersey ; and in all of these directions 
the majestic river, with its sailing crafts and 
steamers, its endless combinations of light and 
3hade, and its ever-changing hues of color. 

Claremont, — At the beginning of River- 



MA Nil A T TA iV. 133 

side Drive, a restaurant now stands on the 
height which once was crowned by a stately 
private residence known as Claremont, and 
occupied successively by Lord Churchill, Vis- 
count Courtenay, (afterward Earl of Devon), 
and Joseph Bonaparte, known as Comte de 
Survilliers. 

The Tomb of General Grant. — In the 
midst of this daily pageant of Nature, lie the 
remains of the great commander, General 
Ulysses S. Grant. After impressive ceremo- 
nies, and amidst a vast concourse of people, 
the body of this hero was laid to rest, August 
8th, 1885, in the unpretentious vault which is 
placed at the east of the drive, in that portion 
of the park called Claremont Heights. A 
stately monumental structure soon is to be 
completed, which will add a dignity to this 
spot in keeping with its national and historical 
interest. 

The Statue of Washington, a copy of 
Houdon's work, — the one ornament of the kind 
yet placed in the park, — was a gift from the 
children of the public schools. 

The residence of the late General Sherman 
was in West 73d Street, at No. 6y, 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE FIFTH MORNING. 

Central Park, now the pride of the city, 
was a region of rock and swamp, but a compar- 
atively short time ago, over which roamed at 
pleasure, the pigs, goats, and chickens, that 
belonged to the "squatters," whose shanties 




OLD SQUATTER SETTLEMENT ON THE CENTRAL PARK SITE. 

were perched on the hillsides, or clustered in 
the hollows. 

The establishment of the park, which was 
effected in 1855, was greatly due to the untir- 
134 



Jl/A Nil A T TA N, 135 

ing efforts of the Honorable De Witt C. Little- 
john, then speaker at Albany, now living in 
Oswego. This gentleman says, when the park 
is mentioned ; *' Yes, I fought hard for it, and 
thought the day we passed the bill the bright- 
est in my life ; but as I pass through it now, 
the trees that I planted thirty-five years ago 
do not know me, nor do the thousands of peo- 
ple who jostle me aside as they throng the 
beautiful roadways, heed me." 

The value of the land appropriated to this 
purpose was estimated by the commissioners 
to be about five million, and two hundred 
thousand dollars ; this amount to be paid partly 
by assessments on adjoining property bene- 
fited, and partly by the creation of a city-stock, 
called "The Central Park Fund," for the pay- 
ment of which stock, the lands of the park 
should be pledged. 

The cost of improving the grounds was pro- 
vided for in the year 1857, by placing the 
management and control of the property 
under a Board of Commissioners, and requiring 
the corporation to create a public stock to be 
denominated " The Central Park Improvement 
Fund," in such sums as should be required by 
the commissioners, — the interest on the stock 
to be paid by a general tax, which was not to 
exceed one hundred thousand dollars annually. 



1 3 6 MA NHA T TA N. 

The park, which now comprises about nine 
hundred acres, is situated very nearly in the. 
geographical centre of the Island, and is in all 
respects well adapted to the recreative wants 
of both the rich and the poor. Pedestrians 
roam at pleasure over thirty miles of walks, 
— some fashionable and much frequented, 
others retired and quiet. Riders on horseback 
join the throng on the carriage roads, or con- 
fine their peregrinations to bridle-paths, on 
which no vehicle will be admitted. For car- 
riages there are over nine miles of broad, 
well-made roadway, affording in its course a 
view of nearly every object of interest, but no- 
where crossing on the same level, a footpath of 
importance, or any portion of the bridle-road. 

In the improvement of the grounds the di- 
rections of the Board of Commissioners found 
expression through their executive officer, Mr. 
Frederic Law Olmsted, who made the designs, 
on which the arrangements were based, thus 
transforming the barren waste into a field of 
natural and artistic beauty, that rivals any sim- 
ilar pleasure-ground in the world. Incessant 
vigilance now maintains the park in perfect 
order, while the addition of trees, shrubs, and 
vines, continually increases the picturesque 
effect, and justifies the following of the wise 
counsel of the Laird of Dumbiedikes, whom 



MANIfATJ'AN. 137 

Mrs. Lamb quotes: "When ye hae naethin;^ 
else to do ye may aye be stieking in a tree ; it 
will be growing- when ye are sleeping." 

The Main Entrance to the park is at the 
corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street. 

The Zoological Gardens. — In and about 
the old arsenal, a castellated gray brick build- 
ing, situated at the 64th Street and Fifth Ave- 
nue entrance, is located the menagerie, or by 
many now called the Zoological Garden. 

During the summer months, the collection 
of birds and animals is small as compared with 
it when augmented by the travelling shows, 
that go into winter quarters here. The Mon- 
key House, a building filled with tropical 
specimens of the monkey race, usually is the 
most attractive feature of the menagerie 
to the children. Here, of late, Mr. Garner, 
with the assistance of a phonograph, has pur- 
sued his scientific investigations concerning 
the speech of lower animals. In the meteoro- 
logical observatory, also located in the arsenal, 
the self-recording instruments may be in- 
spected. 

The Statues of Thomas Moore anij 
Alexander von Humboldt are on the banks 
of the pond, not far from the main entrance. 
The former was modelled by Dennis B. Shee- 
han, and given to the city by the Moore 



138 MANHATTAN. 

Memorial Committee ; the latter was modelled 
by Gustave Blaeser, and presented to the city 
by German residents, on the one hundredth 
anniversary of the birth of the distinguished 
savant, September 14th, 1869. At the unveil- 
ing of this statue, Professor Louis Agassiz 
made a memorable address. 

The Children's Shelter, with a dairy, 
and an abundance of benches, seats, tables, 
and swings, is passed on the way to 

The Mall. — This prominent feature of the 
park is reached from the Zoological Garden 
by passing under the marble archway, a 
structure noted for the beauty of its architect- 
ural design. The mall itself is a broad prom- 
enade, one-third of a mile in length, ornament- 
ed on either side by rows of stately American 
elms, and terminating at the north in a richly 
decorated water-terrace and fountain. 

The two exceedingly fine pieces of statuary, 
— Shakespeare, and the "Indian Hunter," — 
that stand on the vestibule lawn at the southern 
approach to the mall, were executed by J. Q. 
A. Ward. A bronze casting of " Eagles and 
Goat," by Fratin,stands a little to the east. The 
other pieces, placed at either side of the prom- 
enade, are; Sir Walter Scott, — a copy of the 
original statue in Edinburgh, ^ — by John Steele, 
Robert Burns, by the same artist, Fitz-Greene 



140 AlAiVIIA TTAiV. 

Halleck, by Wilson MacDonald, and a bust of 
Beethoven on a granite pedestal near the music 
stand. Concerts, that are listened to by vast 
numbers of people, are here provided for 
Saturday afternoons in the summer. 

The Terrace and Esplanade, that border 
the lake at the north of the mall, form the 
principal architectural feature of the park. 
Three stairways lead to the esplanade, the 
central one being under the road, and termi- 
nating in an arched hall decorated with tiles. 
The railing and stairways are constructed of 
light brown sandstone, with panels elaborately 
sculptured in great variety of intricate design. 
Especially rich, in pattern and execution, are 
the carvings of birds and animals, flowers and 
fruit, with which the noble ramps of the side 
stairways are decorated. 

Bethesda Fountain. — Hovering above the 
upper basin, with wings outstretched, as if just 
alighting on the massive rock at her feet, the 
figure of an angel appears to be in the act of 
blessing the waters of the fountain, which 
stands in the esplanade between the terrace 
and the lake. Four smaller figures, emble- 
matic of the blessings of temperance, purity, 
health, and peace, support the upper basin, and 
are slightly veiled by the water which falls 
from above into the ample pond at their feet. 



MANHATTA^r. 14 1 

This work of art was designed and executed 
by Miss Emma vStebbins, of New York. 

The Lake, a handsome, irregular pond, con- 
taining nearly twenty acres of water, is seen 
to the best advantage from the terrace. In 
the summer time gondolas, and pleasure boats 
of every description, sail its waters, while the 
winter months bring to it the gaiety which 
skating occasions. For a row about the lake 
the fare is ten cents, but by the hour, the 
charge is thirty cents for one, and ten cents 
for each additional person. 

The Casino. — Close by the carriage con- 
course, at the northern end of the mall, and 
east of the terrace, is a pretty stone cottage, 
containing an excellent restaurant. 

The Ramble, a rocky hill rising from the 
northern side of the lake, has been transformed 
into country freshness and beauty, by trees, of 
which there are; the ash, the elm, the lime, 
and the beech, with almost all of the coniferae, 
— pines, firs, spruces, and hemlocks, — and by 
common wild flowers that blossom here abun- 
dantly. Wild birds build and breed freely, 
while swans, ducks, and cranes swim the 
streams of this sequestered grove, which bears 
within its solitudes the charms of wildness 
and unmolested freedom, 

Schiller. — On a sandstone pedestal, amid 



142 MANHATTAK. 

all this beauty, stands a bronze bust of the 
poet, a work of art modelled by C. L. Richter, 
and presented to the city by German residents, 
in 1859. 

The Park Phaeton. — At the terrace, it will 
be desirable to enter one of the carriages pro- 
vided by the commissioners for the purpose of 
conveying passengers over the entire park, for 
the moderate fee of twenty-five cents each. 
Three times during the route an opportunity 
will be given to stop and examine places of 
special interest; the Museum of Natural His- 
tory, McGowan's Pass Tavern, and the Metro- 
politan Museum of Art. By retaining the 
tickets provided at starting, passengers may 
remain at their leisure in any of these places, 
as the phaetons are passing and will stop on 
signal. 

''The Tigress and Young." — At the right 
of the road, just west of the terrace, stands this 
fine group in bronze, modelled by Augustus 
Caine, "The Falconer," a figure of exquisite 
grace, executed by George Simonds, stands on 
a bluff at the left, near the 72d Street entrance. 

The Statue of Daniel Webster, by 
Thomas Ball, stands on a high pedestal at the 
junction of the west drive and the 72d Street 
entrance. Handsome hotels and flats line the 
street at the left of the park Within the last 



MAN-HAT TAN-. 143 

few years, apartment houses have multiplied to 
such a remarkable extent, that this mode of 
living seems destined to become as common 
in New York City, as it is in Paris or Vienna. 

Tme American Museum of Natural 
History, which was incorporated by the Leg- 
islature in 1869, held its first exhibition in the 
arsenal, when the Verreaux collection of nat- 
ural history specimens, the Elliot collection of 
North American birds, and the entire museum 
of Prince Maximilian of Neuwied, were dis- 
played. 

It was not until June, 1874, that the corner- 
stone of the present building, — situated in 
Manhattan Square, between Eighth and Ninth 
Avenues, and 77th and 8ist Streets, and con- 
nected with the park by a bridge, — was laid by 
General Grant. A new portion recently has 
been added, which is so rich in material as 
greatly to strengthen the effect of the archi- 
tectural design, — a not very pronounced ten- 
dency to the Romanesque. These buildings 
form only two of many that are to be erected 
as the collections require them, and the liberal- 
ity of the State allows. 

The current expenses of this institution are 
paid by the city, the Board of Trustees, and 
private subscriptions. The Park Department, 
as the representative of the city and State, 



144 MANHA TTAIsr. 

provides the grounds and buildings and keeps 
them in repair, the trustees in return furnish- 
ing the exhibits, and opening the Museum to 
the public, free of charge, on Wednesday, 
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, of each week, 
from 9 A.M. until 5 p.m., and on Wednesday 
and Saturday evenings until ten o'clock. A 
bill recently passed by the Legislature, pro- 
vides that the Museum be opened Sundays 
also. 

The Hall of Marbles and Ornamental 
Building Stones is on the first floor, the 
approach to which, is under the archway that 
divides the two flights of circular steps leading 
to the main entrance. 

This collection, containing about fifteen 
hundred blocks, principally four-inch cubes, 
polished on the face, and variously dressed on 
the other sides, represents nearly every State 
in the Union, and includes samples of all 
grades of granite, limestone, marble, slate, 
and rocks, used for building or ornamental 
purposes. Foreign stones also are exhibited 
in this department, and it is gratifying to dis- 
cover that the Idaho marble is scarcely second 
in quality to the best that is found in Italy; 
and that the State of Washington excels almost 
any area of similar extent in the world, in its 
capacity to produce the raw materials necessary 



MA iVIIA TTAN. 145 

to the upbuilding of improvement enterprises. 
This entire collection was donated by the pres- 
ident of the institution, Mr. Morris K. Jesup. 

A Lecture Hall, which opens from the 
hall of marbles, has a seating capacity of eleven 
hundred. During the spring and fall seasons, 
free public lectures are delivered two evenings 
in each week. A course of lectures also is 
given to the teachers of the city and State, and 
another popular course is provided for mem- 
bers of the institution and their friends. 
Public holidays also afford an opportunity for 
this same kind of instruction. For all of 
these discourses, specially prepared stereopti- 
con plates illustrate the subjects presented. 

The Jesup Collection of Woods. — On 
the same floor with the exhibit just mentioned, 
another hall displays over five hundred speci- 
micns of wood, arranged in botanical order, 
with the diameter of each tree announced by 
plain figures. The cuttings are transverse, 
oblique, and longitudinal, — one side of the 
specimen being polished and varnished, while 
the remaining portion is left in its natural 
state. Water-color paintings represent the 
foliage, flower, and fruit, of the different trees, 
and their native place is indicated by green 
spots on the map. 

Among the more ordinary woods are speci- 



146 MA NHA T TA N. 

mens of spruce, maple, ash, oak, and the red 
and white cedar. The Alaskan cedar, — a wood 
much soug-ht for ship-building purposes, as it 
resists the action of salt water, — also is found 
in this collection, recalling to mind the coun- 
try from whence it cam_e, where a tree occa- 
sionally is hewn down which is worth as much 
as two hundred acres of the government land 
on which it grew. " Here are monarchs to 
whom all worshipful men inevitably lift their 
hats ; to vSee one fall under the blows of steel, 
or under the embrace of fire, is to experience 
a pang of sorrow," said the eloquent Samuel 
Wilkeson. 

Two transverse sections of redwood trees, 
now on their way from California, measure ten 
and twenty feet in diameter, and will extend 
from the floor to the ceiling, when mounted on 
platforms. These will make the collection of 
American woods complete. The Douglas pine, 
or red fir, which attains a height of three hun- 
dred feet, is as straight as an arrow, with trunk 
often nine feet in diameter. By many ship- 
builders, this wood is pronounced the very best 
for masts and spars, as it possesses a remarka- 
ble flexibility and tenacity of fibre. 

Of the trees in California, Mr. Julius Starre 
writes ; " In no place is an artist or artisan 
more freely rewarded than in California for- 



MANHATTAN. 147 

ests. The grace of foliag-e and the character- 
istic contour of the trees g-low on many a 
painter's canvas, but few recognize the fact 
that the woody fibre of the roots and trunks, 
when manipulated by a skilful workman, pre- 
sents as charming lines and lovely colors as 
the most delicate flower which grows by their 
side." 

A specimen of larch, which thrived over five 
centuries ago, another of hemlock, more than 
half as old as its predecessor, and a piece of 
the "Charter Oak," exhibited in a case near 
the door, are the greatest curiosities in this 
collection. An economic entomological series, 
illustrative of the destructive effect of insect 
life on vegetation, is a recent addition to this 
department. 

The Higher Forms of Animal Life are 
represented by specimens exhibited on the 
second floor near the main entrance. 

Here are the skeletons of Jumbo and Sam- 
son, the former the largest specimen of the 
African species of elephant ever seen in con- 
finement, and the latter an importation from 
India. The essential external differences con- 
sist in the shape of the head and the size of 
the ears. 

The Seal Collection, the best in the 
country, is provided from the seal islands of 



148 MA NHA T TA JV. 

Alaska, the North Atlantic, and the West 
Indies. 

The Buffalo Case contains seven fine 
specimens surrounded by the pear cactus, the 
yucca, the old-man weed, and the prairie -grass. 

Cats, foxes, and bears, also are in this apart- 
ment, and in the western wing are specimens 
of the deer, the antelope, and the camel. 

Students of zoology find their progress 
greatly facilitated by the skeletons of the ani- 
mals that are placed by the side of their 
mounted skins. 

The Hall of Birds, also on the second 
floor, is one of the most attractive departments 
in the building. The collection, which is one 
of the finest in America, contains twelve 
thousand mounted specimens, besides forty 
thousand arranged for study. 

The Collection of Monkeys is located 
on the third floor. Here will be found goril- 
las, baboons, and chimpanzees, arranged in 
cases containing fac-similes of their native 
haunts. The chimpanzee, " Mr. Crowley, " once 
a prominent member of the Central Park 
menagerie, has a conspicuous position. 

The porpoise, dolphin, whale, opossum, and 
kangaroo, are displayed in the wing of this 
floor. Also a baby hippopotamus, and a rhi- 
noceros, that were born in the park menagerie. 



manhattan. 149 

The Department of Fishes and Rep- 
tiles includes casts of American food-fishes 
received from the Fish Commissioner of the 
United States. 

A Collection of Butterflies and Moths 
is placed in the desk-cases that are ranged 
about the gallery of the new building. The 
specimens are numerous, and many of them 
very brilliant. Through the efforts of Mr. A. 
M. Palmer, who is securing subscriptions for 
the purpose, the Edwards entomological col- 
lection will be donated to the Museum by the 
citizens of New York. 

The gallery of the old building is filled with 
American birds; among them some particu- 
larly fine groups are placed amid the trees and 
nests peculiar to their tribes. 

The Mineralogical Collection, on the 
fourth floor, is now one of the most valuable 
in the United States. It contains many fine 
gems, also specimens of native metallic forms, 
and exemplifications of the different systems of 
crystallization, meteorites, etc. Conspicuous 
in this department is the noted Tiffany collec- 
tion of gems, the brilliancy and beauty of 
which is superior to any collection in America. 

The Geological Collection is rich with 
material, principally illustrative of this country. 

The Collection of Shells, which is near, 



ISO MA NHA T TA N. 

is composed of a great variety of beautiful and 
interesting specimens, so arranged as to be 
studied in connection with 

The Paleontological Collection, con- 
taining nearly seven thousand type and fig- 
ured specimens, which is the richest and most 
extensive assortment of American invertebrate 
fossils in the world. 

The Department of Ethnology and 
Archeology. — In the upper story of the new 
building, a large hall contains the tools and 
implements of prehistoric man, as well as his 
articles of adornment, and of religious worship. 

Models and Prints of the Cliff Dwell- 
ings, and old Pueblo ruins of the Verde Valley 
in Arizona, from which very many of these 
specimens were taken, form a part of this val- 
uable collection. The States of Ohio, Arizona, 
and Colorado, are rich with examples of these 
curious structures, those of the latter State 
being lined with pink gypsum. It is believed 
that human beings will yet be found inhabit- 
ing these caverns, but as yet only skulls and 
other bones have been discovered. These 
now are exhibited with the various relics from 
this unknown civilization. 

Antedating the cliff-dwellings, are the 
mounds, usually covered with a growth of 
trees, indicative of at least a thousand years 



AIA NHA TTAN, 1 5 1 

abandonment. Many of the mound-works 
evidently were designed as citadels of defence, 
or watch-towers in war, others as places of 
burial for the dead, or temples of worship. As 
they usually resemble animals very closely in 
form, they are regarded as symbolizing the 
totems, or beasts that bore a religious signifi- 
cance to the tribes. Totemism appears in 
every land where tribes have been in exist- 
ence, as, for instance, the wild ass of Issachar, 
the lion of Judah, etc. - 

One of the most remarkable of these works, 
the " Great Serpent" of Ohio, is situated on a 
hill in Adams County. The distended jaws, 
holding an oval one hundred and sixty feet in 
length, and eighty feet in width, seem to indi- 
cate that the creature is represented in the act 
of swallowing an Q%%. The mound terminates 
in a triple coil at the tail, the whole body 
extending over about seven hundred feet of 
ground. 

The implements and ornaments found in the 
mounds, usually are composed of stone, and, 
with the exception of the flint-spears and 
arrowheads, are wrought with skill and care. 
Some of the ornaments are of copper, but al- 
ways in its native state, and w^ith the specks of 
silver found only in the copper of the Lake Su- 
perior region. Almost every mound contains 



1 5 2 MANHA TTAN. 

pottery, generally coarse and crude, but some- 
times graceful in form and highly ornamental. 
Internal com-merce is indicated by masses of 
galena, calc-spar, quartz-crystals, mica, marine 
shells, and other materials brought from dis- 
tant localities. There is also proof that the 
lead mines near Lexington, Kentucky, as well 
as the oil wells in Canada and Pennsylvania, 
were worked by the inhabitants of these queer 
dwelling-places. No tablets or inscriptions of 
any kind having been found, it is supposed that 
the mound-builders had no written language ; 
and no bones have been discovered to indicate 
the domestication of animals. 

The prehistoric remains, so abundant in Ari- 
zona, appear to be related to the civilization of 
Mexico, and the semi-civilized Indian tribes 
now found there, possibly are descendants of 
these ancient folk; but the mound-builders 
and cliff-dwellers were quite different from 
the nomadic Indians who occupied the coun- 
try at the time of the advent of Europeans. 

Among the relics contained in the Museum 
collection are specimens of stone, shell, pot- 
tery, pipes (that compelled the smoker to lie 
on his back in order to prevent the burning 
material from escaping), bones, materials used 
in the construction of the dwellings, articles 
of apparel, cords, weapons, and many other 



MA Nil A TTAN, 153 

novel and highly instructive souvenirs of an 
almost mystical past. 

The Library and Reading Room, now 
containing twenty-three thousand volumes, 
and with a capacity for fifty thousand more, 
occupies a portion of the floor just indicated. 
Study rooms for the use of students also are 
provided in this part of the building, the aim 
of the institution being to establish a post- 
graduate university of natural science, that 
shall be as complete in all of its appointments 
as any similar institution in London or Paris. 

From the cariage-road, the lake, the ramble, 
and the belvedere, — -a stone look-out tower, 
erected on the highest knoll in the park, — are 
the first objects of interest after leaving the 
Museum. 

The Receiving-Reservoir of the Cro- 
TON Water Works next comes into view, at 
the right of the drive. This receptacle has a 
capacity of one hundred million gallons. The 
retaining-reservoir, a little further north, holds 
one billion and thirty million gallons. The 
water supply of the city is drawn from the 
Croton River, a stream in Westchester County, 
and from a number of lakes in the vicinity of 
its sources. 

The Equestrian vStatue of General 
Simon Bolivar, on an elevation at the left, 



1 5 4 MA NHA T TA N. 

was a gift from the government and people of 
Venezuela. This work was executed by R. 
De la Cora. 

The Drive now leads through the wild 
beauty of woody hills and rocky slopes at the 
north of the park, until the second station is 
reached, — formerly known as Mount St. Vin- 
cent, but now called McGowan's Pass Tavern. 
From the porch of this attractive restaurant 
the eye rests, in the summer season, on bril- 
liant flower-beds filled with the choicest plants. 
Far beyond are spread the waters of the East 
and Harlem Rivers, in which the islands, and 
the buildings on them, easily may be identified. 
A more charming spot hardly can be imagined 
for the nuns who, according to tradition, lived 
here previous to the Revolution. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE FIFTH AFTERNOON. 

Historical Sites. — McGowan's Pass, for- 
merly a circuitous portion of the old Boston 
Road, and now a park-highway in front of the 
tavern, was the scene of an attack by the 
British, at the time of the retreat of Putnam's 
column to Harlem Heights. A successful 
resistance was made by Silliman, with the aid 
of Alexander Hamilton, who, with his cannon, 
had guarded the rear of the column during 
the whole of its dangerous march from 
Bleecker Street, the British extending their 
lines from this point to the Hudson and 
East Rivers just after the American army had 
passed. Remains of the extensive breastworks, 
subsequently erected by the British, are still 
visible near the elevation on which the tavern 
stands; and at the north, on a low bluff, once 
called Fort Fish, an old cannon, a mortar, and 
a shell, are still preserved as relics of this time. 

The Block House. — This fortification, to 
which visitors must be directed by a park- 
policeman, was built by the Americans, but 

155 



156 



MANHA TTAN. 



was afterward improved and occupied by the 
English during Revolutionary times. Another 
tradition clinofs to the flagf-staff on the summit. 
It is popularly called "Old Hickory," because 




THE OLD FORT FISH AT M'GOWAN'S PASS. 

General Jackson, who bore that soubriquet, is 
said to have once been its owner. 

The vista from this point is exceptionally 
fine. At the north and west the Palisades, 
the Bloomingdale Asylum, the private man- 
sions overlooking the Hudson, the lofty and 
winding elevated railroad, the ornamental 
stairways and battlements that constitute the 
first improvements of Morningside Park, 
Mount Morris Park, and further on Fort Wash- 
ington, — the strongest breastwork thrown up 
by the Americans during the Revolution, — 
are the various objects of interest presented. 



MANHATTAN. 157 

The site of the camp-fires of various regi- 
ments at different times in possession here, is 
a little to the left of this fort. 

After leaving the tavern the phaeton passes 
over the east drive, which for some distance 
possesses no objects of special interest, except 
the entrance to the reservoir, — a sort of gate- 
house built of granite, — and 

The Statue of Alexander Hamilton. — 
This work by Charles Conradts, was presented 
to the city in 1880, by the son of the illustrious 
statesman. A monument to Hamilton once 
was erected in Weehawken, the place where 
he fought the duel with Burr ; but the locality 
became the scene of such frequent duels, that 
the gentleman who raised the tribute caused 
it to be broken into fragments. Another fine 
statue of this celebrated individual was placed 
in the Stock Exchange in Wall Street, but the 
falling in of the roof, at the time of the great 
fire of 1835, crushed it to atoms. 

The Obelisk. — East of the drive and oppo- 
site the Metropolitan Museum of Art, stands a 
relic that antedates the birth of Christ by fif- 
teen centuries. This monolith, which was 
gazed upon by Moses, was one of two erected 
for the Temple of On by Thutmes the Third, 
of Egypt, as a thank-offering for his victories. 
The hieroglyphic inscriptions mostly are com- 



158 MA NHA T TA N. 

memorative of that great monarch, although 
the names and titles of Ramses the Second, 
and of Usorkon the First, also appear. The 
obelisk was presented to the city in 1877, by 
the late Khedive of Egypt, Ismail Pasha, the 
expense of its removal, one hundred thousand 
dollars, having been borne by William H. 
Vanderbilt. The site from which it eventu- 
ally was taken was near Alexandria, it having 
been placed there before the Caesarium, in 
the time of Augustus Caesar. Its companion 
now stands in London. 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. — 
In November 1869, at a public meeting held 
in the Academy of Music, a committee com- 
posed of fifty gentlemen, was formed to draft a 
plan of organization, for the purpose of found- 
ing an institute, the object of which should be 
the art culture of the people of N.ew York 
City. In 1870 the Legislature granted this 
committee, which was then increased to over 
twice the original number, a charter " for the 
purpose of establishing a museum and library 
of art; of encouraging and developing the 
study of the fine arts ; of the application of art 
to manufactures and to practical life; of ad- 
vancing the general knowledge of kindred 
subjects; and to that end, of furnishing popu- 
lar instruction and recreation." The Museum 



MANHA TTAN. 159 

is controlled by a Board of Trustees, elected by 
the members of the corporation, who are such 
for life. The officers, elected annually by the 
corporation, are ex-officio members of the 
Board of Trustees, as are also the president of 
the Department of Public Parks, the comptrol- 
ler of the city of New York, and the president 
of the National Academy of Design. 

The growth of this institution has no paral- 
lel, even in countries where such effort is 
entirely supported by government ; and, as a 
natural consequence, the current expenses 
continually increase. The trustees have spared 
neither their personal means, nor their time, to 
meet the constantly increasing demand, but it 
has now become so heavy that they are asking 
the city to assume the entire financial respon- 
sibility of the annual outlay, while they in 
return will open the Museum to the public, free 
of charge at all times, and devote their means 
to the enlargement and perfection of the col- 
lection. 

As at the present time the Park Department 
furnishes accommodations for the Museum, and 
contributes funds for its maintainment, the 
trustees admit the general public on Wednes- 
days, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, from 
10 A.M. until one half-hour before sunset; on 
Sundays, from i p.m. until the same hour, and 



t6o MANHATTAN. 

on Tuesday and Saturday evening's, from 8 
until 10 o'clock; besides this, art students and 
public school teachers and scholars are allowed 
special privileges. On the remaining days an 
admission fee of twenty-five cents is charged. 

The technical art schools for designing-, 
modelling-, carving, free-hand and mechanical 
drawing, that are established in connection 
with the work of the Museum, add g-reatly to 
the earning capacity of this class of American 
laborers. 

The Blodgett collection of pictures, the first 
acquisition of any importance, was exhibited 
in a rented house in Fifth Avenue, near 53d 
Street. After the presentation of an archaeo- 
logical collection, consisting of over thirty 
thousand objects, gathered from the Island of 
Cyprus by General Di Cesnola, then United 
States Consul, the Museum was removed to a 
more extensive mansion in 14th Street. The 
present building has been occupied since 1880, 
at which time it was formally opened by the 
President of the United States. Like the 
Museum of Natural History, a series of build- 
ings is intended, two of which are completed, 
and a third is in process of construction. 
These now standing are of red brick with 
granite facings, but the architectural design is 
hard to classify, not being quite definitely the 



MANHATTAN. l6i 

Gothic or Renaissance that they appear to 
illustrate. 

Ancient Sculpture. — The entrance hall is 
filled with casts of the greatest art productions 
of Greece and Rome. Here also are fragments 
of the bronze crabs that supported the obelisk 
in Alexandria. They are dated the eighteenth 
year of Augustus Caesar. 

The Hall of Glass, Laces, Ancient 
Pottery, and Musical Instruments. — The 
large apartment at the left contains a varied 
assortment of rare specimens, in which the 
history of glass is w^onder fully illustrated. 
Exquisite laces are displayed in swinging 
standards, and curious musical instruments 
invite the attention of those who are interested 
in the mechanics of sound. 

The Hall of Modern Sculpture, which 
is beyond the one just mentioned, contains, in 
a not very large assortment, the following 
beautiful pieces of statuary. Near the door is 
a life-size bronze figure of Napoleon the First, 
idealized by Canova's graceful touch. The 
majestic forms of Cleopatra, Semiramis, and 
Medea, by W. W. Story, are placed in line at 
the right of the hall, and near them are ; " Cal- 
ifornia" (represented as a woman of exquisite 
proportions), by Hiram Powers, and a beauti- 
ful group, " Latona and her Children, Apollo 
II 



1 62 MANHATTAN. 

and Diana," by Reinhart. A cast of Antoine 
Louis Barye's " Lion and Serpent," the original 
of whicli stands in the Garden of the Tuileries 
at Paris, is an acquisition which was presented 
to the United States by the French govern- 
ment in 1890. Thorwaldsen, Gibson, Lord 
Ronald Gower, and other equally noted artists, 
also are represented ; and vases, a great variety 
of busts, the Poe Memorial (presented by the 
artists of New York), reproductions, and plas- 
ter studies, add their attractions to this part of 
the establishment. 

The Hall of Architectural Casts, in 
the interior of the building, is filled with a 
remarkably valuable collection, including mod- 
els of ancient temples, modern cathedrals, for- 
eign structures, and casts of every variety of 
detail work. A large painting by Hans Makart, 
called "Diana's Hunting Party," which hangs 
on the western wall, illustrates the high tones 
of the Dusseldorf School. On the eastern wall 
is a painting by Constant, a pupil of Cabanel's, 
representing "Justinian in Council." 

The Old Western Galleries, that are 
approached by a staircase leading from the 
Hall of Statuary, consist of two apartments in 
which the paintings of modern masters are dis- 
played. These are owned by the Museum, the 
most noticeable treasures among them being; 



MANHATTAN, 163 

"Woodland and Cattle," by Auguste 
Bonheur, an exquisite picture portraying a 
quiet phase of animal life. The sunlit land- 
scape represents the woods of Fontainebleau. 

"Thusnelda at the Triumphal Entry 
OF Germanicus into Rome," by Piloty. — 
Although this picture is defective in its 
schemes of color, it is a fine piece of stage- 
grouping, in which barbaric figures, strange 
animals, trophies, and Italians, make up the 
glories of a Roman holiday. 

Baron Alexander von Humboldt. — This 
interesting portrait of the great savant at the 
age of eighty-nine, was painted, according to 
his wish, with Chimborazo for the background, 
by Julius Schrader. 

"Friedland, 1807," by Meissonier. — The 
sentiment expressed iji this painting is partic- 
ularly fine. Napoleon at the height of his 
glory, — an inspiration to his soldiers, who are 
ready to lay down their lives at his feet, — was 
the intention of the artist. To quote from an 
eminent critic ; " A painter has perhaps never 
represented a composition in which the leader 
reposes in the sympathy of his troops so like 
a soul in a body." The work is executed 
with that fidelity to detail which has seemed 
possible to Meissonier alone, and also with 
a devotion to the subject which has made 



164 MANHATTAN. 

of this picture the masterpiece of a great 
master. 

"A Spanish Lady," by Fortuny, is one of 
the most important specimens of the work of 
that artist. 

"The Horse Fair," by Rosa Bonheur. — 
This celebrated chef-d'oeuvre of the distin- 
guished artist, which represents a group of 
foreign draught horses in precipitate action, 
was presented to the museum by Cornelius 
Vanderbilt. It is gratifying to know that this 
magnificent representation of animal life is 
permanently placed where it may be seen by 
multitudes of people. Mile. Bonheur's latest 
painting, " The Last of the American Indians," 
will be of special interest to the American 
public. 

"The Defence of Champigny," by De- 
taille, one of the finest works the gallery con- 
tains, depicts most graphically, the harrowing 
scenes incident to a siege. The officer in the 
centre of the picture is General Faron. 

Memorials of Washington, Lafayette, 
AND Franklin. — This important collection is 
displayed in an apartment which is situated at 
the head of the middle stairway, beyond the 
galleries just described. 

The New Western Galleries that open 
from the room devoted to memorials, contain 



MANHATTAN. 165 

the paintings bequeathed to the Museum by 
Catharine Lorillard Wolfe. 

A Portrait of Miss Wolfe, by Cabanel, 
attracts immediate attention by the grace of 
posture and air of distinguished elegance that 
characterized this sensitive, high-bred lady. 
The subtle power of the artist especially be- 
trays itself in the modelling and posture of the 
hands, that express in their cultured gesture 
the extreme refinement manifested in our se- 
lect American types. 

"Repose in Egypt," by Ludwig Knaus. — 
This painting represents the Holy Family, 
visited in the night-time by a gambolling 
bevy of cherubs (who resemble cupids more 
nearly). Although Joseph appears to be in a 
state of religious exaltation, nothing in the 
picture suggests the source of his inspiration. 
The Virgin is a simple rustic, and the angels 
all possess the faces belonging to the agreeable 
low life that the artist usually portrays. An- 
other specimen of Knaus in this collection is 
much more characteristic of that original 
artist. 

"The Shulamite Woman," by Cabanel, is 
enlivened with every device of pictorial fancy, 
and the theme is extremely attractive, but 
profound thought or spirited manipulation are 
wanting. 



1 66 MANHATTAN. 

"A Religious Procession in Brittany," 
by Jules Breton, represents " The Grand Par- 
don," which is supposed by the simple-hearted 
Brittany peasants to occur once a year for their 
benefit. The composition is crowded, but the 
figures are skilfully generalized. " The Peas- 
ant Girl," a smaller example of Breton, is a 
single-figure study which is very successful. 

"The Night Patrol at Smyrna," by 
Decamps, one of the best examples of that 
artist, is magnificent in its expression of light 
and heat, animal motion, and superb horse- 
manship. 

"Crusaders Before Jerusalem," by Kaul- 
bach, a repetition of a fresco in the Museum 
at Berlin, is an allegorical pageant, painted 
with great power. 

"The Massacre of the Mamelukes," by 
Bida, "The Storm," by Cot, and "The Last 
Token," by Max, are noticeable features of this 
broadly representative collection, which is fur- 
ther enriched with examples of Bonheur, 
Bouguereau, Gerome, Meissonier, Diaz, Mun- 
kacsy, Schreyer, Troy on, Verboeckhoven, 
Vibert, and many other equally noted artists. 

Gallery Q, which is next to the Wolfe 
galleries, is filled with gems, objects wrought 
in gold and silver, (many of them being Egyp- 
tian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Greek or Roman), 



MANHATTAN. 167 

miniatures, fans of the most delicate manu- 
facture, and exceedingly fine tapestries. 

A Gallery of Drawing, in which an al- 
cove is devoted to water-color paintings, and 
another gallery which displays fac-similes of 
gold and silver plate, are at the left of Gallery 
Q, and lead directly to 

The New Eastern Gallery O. — This 
apartment contains the paintings by the old 
masters, that were presented to the Museum 
by Henry G. Marquand, the different schools 
being represented by the following artists ; 

The Dutch School. — Rembrandt, the un- 
rivalled master of chiaroscuro, whose vigor of 
style and truthful presentation render his 
works invaluable. The " Portrait of a Man with 
a Black Hat " is considered to be the most excel- 
lent of the four examples that the gallery con- 
tains of this artist. Teniers, the celebrated 
painter of interiors, Leyden, whose engravings 
on copper gave him rank with Durer, and 
Marc Antonio, Jan Van Eyck, Franz Hals, 
Hoogstraaten, and Jensen, are among the other 
names that appear on the catalogue. 

The Spanish School. — Velazquez, the 
head of this school, of whom Ruskin has said; 
" Everything Velazquez does may be taken as 
absolutely right by the student." Among the 
specimens executed by this artist is one of the 



1 68 MA NHA TTAN. 

celebrated Don Baltasar portraits. Zurbaran, 
a court painter for Philip the Fourth, is the 
only compatriot of Velazquez here represented. 
Spanish art, which was an outgrowth of the 
Italian, achieved its greatest triumphs in the 
seventeenth century. 

The Italian School, — always dominantly 
ideal in method, and generally in subject. — 
Leonardo da Vinci, who in drawing from life 
gained a freedom unknown to other draughts- 
men, and who was the first painter to recog- 
nize light and shade as equally important with 
the elements of color and line, Masaccio, who 
rendered the Brancacci Chapel famous almost 
beyond rivalry, and Moroni, who was second 
only to Titian as a portrait painter. 

The Flemish School. — Peter Paul Rubens, 
whose brush produced more paintings than any 
other artist, Antony Van Dyck, a pupil of 
Rubens, and afterward " Painter to his Maj- 
esty," Charles the First of England. The 
famous portrait of the Duke of Richmond and 
Lenox is in this collection. 

The French School. — In this Prud'hon, 
who was instructor to Empress Marie Louise, 
only is represented. 

The English School. — Turner, whose 
" Saltash" is here exhibited, John Constable, 
whose works are landscapes chiefly, Sir Joshua 



MA NHA TTAN. 169 

Reynolds, the greatest portrait painter of Eng- 
land, Thomas Gainsborough, the competitor 
of Sir Joshua, William Hogarth, whose power 
to satirize found expression through grotesque 
forms and pictorially-displayed incidents, and. 
Hans Holbein, the Austrian-English painter, 
who stands by the side of the greatest art 
masters of the world. 

Gallery P, which opens from the new 
eastern galleries, displays an assortment of 
American antiquities. 

The Ruins of Paestum. — This remarkable 
mosaic, by Rinaldi, Avhich faces the eastern 
middle stairway, is extremely beautiful, both 
in design and coloring. 

"Saint Christopher and the Infant 
Christ." — This painting faces the mosaic at a 
landing of the staircase. It is by Antonio 
Pollajuolo, and was cut from the walls of the 
Chapel of Michelozzi Villa in Florence. 

The Old Eastern Galleries contain pict- 
ures of the old masters, owned by the Museum, 
and examples of modern masters, some of 
which are loaned, while others are recent 
gifts. 

"Return of the Holy Family from 
Egypt." — This valuable picture was painted 
for the Church of the Jesuits at Antwerp, 
after the completion of the "Crucifixion," and 



1 7 o MA NHA TTA N. 

before the " Descent from the Cross" had been 
executed. Grandeur of style, power of color- 
ing, and decision, are among the expressions 
of praise bestowed upon it by the catalogues. 

Portraits of the Honorable Henry 
Fane and his Guardians, Inigo Jones and 
Charles Blair, by Sir Joshua Reynolds. — 
This picture is one of the best examples of the 
famous painter, and one of the most valuable 
acquisitions to a collection which includes 
specimens from Correggio, the school of Fra 
Bartholommeo, Diirer, Del Sarto, Velazquez, 
Van Dyck, Teniers, Maas, Lely, Jordaens, 
Greuze, and many others. 

"CoLUiMBUs before Ferdinand and Isa- 
bella," by Brozick, "Reading Homer," by 
Alma Tadema, — that careful painter who has 
attained such perfection in the historical de- 
tails of dress and architecture, — "Wallen- 
stein's Lager," by Messerschmitt, which was 
awarded the highest prize at the Royal Acad- 
emy in Munich in 1887, "Joan of Arc," by 
Bastien LePage, a pupil of Cabanel's, por- 
traits of Washington and John Jay, by Stuart, 
Alexander Hamilton, by Trumbull, Bayard 
Taylor, by Eastman Johnson, and Walt Whit- 
man, by Alexander, constitute the most impor- 
tant paintings in the second department. 

Two balconies that connect the eastern with 



MANHATTAN. 171 

the western galleries exhibit specimens of Ori- 
ental porcelain and Japanese art. 

" Lions Chasing Deer," by Rubens, " Alex- 
ander and Diog-enes," by Gaspard de Grayer, 
"Returning from the Hunt," by Josef Hore- 
mans, are three of the paintings that occupy 
the hallway which leads from the old eastern 
galleries to the floor below. 

The success of the Museum, and the superior 
quality of paintings which it exhibits, demon- 
strates the remarkable progress that our coun- 
try has made in its patronage and appreciation 
of art during the past quarter of a century. 
This institution, and the private galleries from 
which paintings constantly are being loaned 
by their generous owners, possess examples of 
the greatest artists of ancient and modern 
times, and these are, many of them, the very 
best examples. As the general public is per- 
mitted frequent access to these potent agents 
of civilization, the stimulus necessarily must 
permanently increase, and it is to be hoped 
that the day is not far distant when our im- 
portation of this class of foreign work may not 
be impeded by a tariff. 

The corridors at the eastern side of the 
lower floor are filled with a great variety of 
relics from Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, and other 
foreign countries. Many of these are mortu- 



172 MANHATTAN. 

ary, and include mummies and mummy-cases, 
sarcophagi, etc. A part of the Cesnola collec- 
tion is placed with these curios^ities, the 
remaining portion being divided and scattered 
about the building. 

The Phaeton to Fifth Avenue En- 
trance. — The first object to attract atten- 
tion after leaving the Museum will be the new 
Jewish syngaogue in Fifth Avenue, at 76th 
Street. The beauty of this edifice, which is 
classical Renaissance in its design, is much 
impaired by the gilded frame and black panels 
of its dome. 

''The Pilgrim," by J. Q.A.Ward, is a 
bronze statue, well placed on a rise of ground 
at the left of the drive, but not seen to advan- 
tage, because the phaeton turns to the right 
just before it is reached. This attractive rep- 
resentation of our forefathers was a gift from 
the New England Society. 

A Statue of S. B. Morse, by Byron Picket, 
stands east of the 72d Street entrance. It was 
erected by telegraphers, in 1871. 

The other statues in the park, not seen from 
the phaeton are; "Commerce" by Guion, Maz- 
zini, the Italian agitator, by Turini, and the 
Seventh Regiment Monument, by Ward. The 
latter is a bronze figure of a private soldier in 
the Seventh Regiment, erected in commemora- 



MA NHA TTAN. 173 

tion of the comrades who fell during the Civil 
War. A statue of Columbus, presented by- 
Italian r^idents, is to be placed on the plaza, 
at I loth Street and Fifth Avenue, and a statue 
of Thorwaldsen is another addition which is 
proposed as a present from Danish residents. 



CHAPTER XL 

THE SIXTH MORNING. — THE ISLANDS. 

Liberty, or Bedloe's Island, on which 
stands Bartholdi's great statue, " Liberty En- 
lightening the World," is situated in New 
York Bay, about two miles southwest of the 
Battery. From 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. boats leave 
hourly for this destination from the Barge Of- 
fice pier. 

During the later days of the colonial epoch 
these thirteen acres of island property belonged 
to Captain Archibald Kennedy, then Collector 
of the Port, whose summer residence was sit- 
uated in this delightful spot; but after the 
Revolution a series of transformations took 
place, the State first utilizing it as a quaran- 
tine station, and Government afterward con- 
verting it into a military fortification, which 
in turn yielded its possession to the imperial 
goddess who keeps watch over our destinies at 
the present time. The star-shaped, granite 
walls of Fort Wood still remain, forming a 
rather ornamental inclosure for the pedestal. 
As a military post this island only has been 
174 



MANIIATTAk. 



175 



put to practical service, when, during the Re- 
bellion, a number of buildings were erected 
and used as hospitals. 

When, many years ago, Bartholdi, the 




THE BARTHOLDI STATUE OF LIBERTY. 



French sculptor, entered the port of New 
York, he was so greatly impressed with the 
eagerness of the emigrants, who crowded on 



176 MANHA TTAN. 

deck to obtain a first glimpse of the land of 
freedom and opportunity, that he conceived 
the idea of symbolizing by a statue of Liberty, 
the welcome that foreigners received. 

It was not until after the close of the Civil 
War, at a social meeting of prominent 
Frenchmen in Paris, — on which occasion Bar- 
tholdi was present, — that the idea of pre- 
senting the statue to America was first 
advanced, and received with an amount of 
enthusiasm which insured the completion of 
the project. Subscriptions subsequently were 
received to the extent of over a million of 
francs, and the work was finished and con- 
veyed to our shores in the month of June, 
1885. As the sympathy of France for this 
country demonstrated itself by the assistance 
of a valiant contingent, in our time of great 
struggle for independence, so that bond of 
interest again found expression by a gift com- 
memorative of our success, and suggestive of 
the possibilities of our future. Two hundred 
and fifty thousand dollars having been obtained 
for a pedestal (through the efforts of the New 
York World) the statue was unveiled on the 
28th of October 1886, in the presence of the 
President and many distinguished guests, with 
imposing ceremonies, elaborate decorations, 
and the booming of cannon. 



MANHATTAN. 177 

This largest statue of modern times is one 
hundred and fifty-one feet in height. In one 
hand the figure holds a tablet, while with the 
other she uplifts a torch. The body is grace- 
fully draped, and the head is surmounted by a 
diadem. The material is hammered copper. 
A spiral stairway within the statue, leads to 
the head, where forty persons can stand 
together without material inconvenience. An- 
other stairway in the arm leads to the torch- 
chamber. No elevators are provided, and the 
climb is very trying, but the view afforded 
from the top is magnificent. At night the 
torch is lighted by electricity, and the base 
and pedestal also are illuminated. The fore- 
finger of the right hand of the goddess is seven 
feet in length, and at the second joint, four 
feet in circumference. The nose is over three 
feet long, and the statue weighs over twenty- 
five tons. The extreme height above low- 
water mark is nearly three hundred and six 
feet. The pedestal, constructed of granite 
and concrete, is one hundred and fifty-five feet 
in height. This colossus can be seen from a 
distance of many miles. 

Ellis Island, once known as Bucking Isl- 
and, contained, until 1827, a small circular 
fort, called Fort Gibson. The five acres that 
constitute this plot of ground belong to the 



1 78 MANHATTAN. 

United States, and have been used as a place 
of storage for explosives. At the present time 
government officials here receive immigrants 
in the landing depot, which was formally 
opened on New Year's Day, 1892. The 
wooden structure erected for this purpose, 
nearly covers the island, is three stories in 
height, and has a tower at each corner. The 
cost of construction was almost half a million 
dollars. The first floor is devoted to baggage- 
transfer and local express offices, as well as to 
the private offices of the government express. 
At the landing of a ship the newcomers are 
received on the second floor, the crowd pouring 
over the gang-plank in a compact mass, push- 
ing, jabbering, gesticulating. Officers calmly 
direct the bewildered strangers to desks, where 
name, place of birth, age, occupation, and 
destination, are registered. Everything here 
is so perfectly systematized that from twelve 
to fifteen thousand immigrants easily can be 
handled at one time, twelve lines being formed, 
with a registry clerk in attendance at each line. 
From a gallery in this room the public may 
view the motley procession. On this floor 
there are also rooms for the detention of pau- 
pers, lunatics, criminals, and persons suspected 
of being contract laborers. Women and 
children are provided with separate apart- 



MANHATTAN. 179 

ments, and a telegraph station, money ex- 
change, postal station, information bureau, and 
railroad and steamship office are in convenient 
arrangement. The third floor contains sleep- 
ing rooms for the accommodation of immi- 
grants who are detained over night. None of 
the officials reside on the island except the 
surgeon. 

A ferryboat continually plies between Ellis 
Island and the Barge Office, and visitors are 
permitted at any time. 

The greatest number of immigrants landed 
in New York in one year, was four hundred 
and fifty-five thousand, four hundred and 
fifty. This was in 1883. The greatest num- 
ber landed in one day was on May nth, 1887, 
when nearly sixteen thousand were registered. 
Of late years the immigration from Italy has 
far exceeded that of any other country. 

Governor's Island. — This egg-shaped plot 
of ground, containing nearly sixty-five acres, 
is situated about one thousand yards south of 
the Battery. It was first purchased from the 
Indians by Wouter Van Twiller, the second 
Dutch governor of New York, and that worthy 
personage whom Irving describes as having 
weighed the books of disputing merchants to 
discover if their accounts would not balance. 
The Indian name of the island was "Pag- 



I So MANHA TTAN. 

ganck," or Nut Island, for some time called 
Nutten Island, but after it became the Van 
Twiller residence it was known as Governor's 
Island, and has retained that appellative. 

Since the War of 1 8 12, at which time the 
batteries now found on it were erected, this 
property has been exclusively under the con- 
trol of the United States War Department. It 
is now headquarters for the Military Depart- 
ment of the Atlantic, and the Major-General 
and his staff are residents. The northern por- 
tion of the island is occupied by the Ordnance 
Department as the New York Arsenal. Can- 
non balls are ranged about it in pyramids, and 
on the little wharf is one of the largest guns 
owned by the Government. The parade- 
ground is adorned with fine old shade-trees, 
and the residences of officers. A chapel erected 
by the widow of General Hancock, the library 
and picture gallery of the Military Service 
Institution, and the Military Museum, which 
contains battle-flags and other war relics, are 
interesting social features of the present occu- 
pation. A footpath leads to Fort Columbus, 
the stone fortification in the centre of the 
island, now utilized as quarters for the soldiers. 
Castle William, an old-fashioned stone work, 
with three tiers of casemates, is located on the 
northwestern shore. In the haste incident to 



MANHATTAN. i8i 

the War of 1812, even the professors and stu- 
dents from college and school were called upon 
to assist in the completion of this prominent 
fortress. A small triangular battery and two 
magazines are situated on the southern point 
of the island, and everything is in preparation 
for the rapid throwing up of earthworks and 
the mounting of heavy guns, Castle William 
being considered entirely too old-fashioned to 
withstand the fire from modern ships-of-w^ar. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE SIXTH AFTERNOON. — A SAIL ON THE EAST 
RIVER. 

The Jersey City Ferry at the foot of Cort- 
landt Street, where also is the dock for the 
Glen Island boat, was the one for which Rob- 
ert Fulton built the two boats, the " York" and 
the "Jersey," in 1812. 

After leaving its pier the steamer must first 
round the Battery, the southern terminus of 
Manhattan Island. At the west and south lie 
the Ellis and Bedloe Islands, and the shores 
of New Jersey, whereon the Jersey City docks 
are more conspicuous than pleasing. Robin's 
Reef Lighthouse is below these, on a reef of 
rocks that once was a resort for seals. 

Staten Island, at the south, is a richly 
wooded and hilly tract of country, containing 
about sixty square miles of land that are occu- 
pied chiefly by the villas of New York business 
men. A point of the eastern shore forms, 
with the western coast of Long Island, the 
Narrows, or entrance to New York Harbor, — a 
passage protected by Fort Wadsworth and a 
183 



MA NHA TTAN. 183 

line of water batteries on the Staten Island 
vside, and by the two forts, Hamilton and 
Lafayette, on the opposite shore. 

Staten Island was purchased from the In- 
dians in 1657, for ten shirts, thirty pairs of 
stockings, ten guns, thirty bars of lead, thirty 
pounds of powder, twelve coats, twelve pieces 
of duffel, thirty hatchets, twenty hoes, and a 
case of knives. 

New York Harbor is a body of water about 
nine miles in length and three miles in width. 
From the ocean at Sandy Hook to the metrop- 
olis at the head of the bay it is about twenty- 
eight miles. No city in the world has a more 
majestic approach or a more agreeable situa- 
tion. The waters of its harbor are deep 
enough to float the largest vessels, and from 
their contiguity to the ocean, are never frozen 
in the winter. The wide expanse of the lower 
and upper bays, the wooded slopes that format 
once a shelter and a picture of rare beauty, 
the islands, and the rivers that, like encircling 
arms, hold in their caress the fairest city of the 
freest country on the earth, and the proud, city 
itself, — uplifting spires and domes on stately 
buildings that tell of prosperous times and un- 
exampled greatness of achievement, — enthuse 
and melt the heart of the returning patriot, or 
inspire with new sense of possibility the mind 



184 A/A Nil A TTA N. 

of the foreigner who watches from the deck of 
an incoming steamer this panorama of nature 
and display of human progress. 

Quarantine Station is on the eastern coast 
of Staten Island. Governor's Island, which 
will be remembeied, is separated from Long 
Island by Buttermilk Channel, east of which 
are located the docks and piers of South 
Brooklyn. The New York shore, for a con- 
siderable distance along the East River, is 
crowded with merchant ships from every 
country, river and sound steamers, and ferry- 
boats loaded with passengers, plying between 
two of the busiest of cities. 

The Wharfage Facilities of New York 
excel those of any city in the world, and the 
cost of handling the cargoes is much less than 
in Liverpool or London. Over one hundred 
steamers, belonging to the trans- Atlantic fleet, 
ply between New York and European ports. 
Twenty distinct lines, exclusive of the local, 
are in operation between this and the coast 
and Gulf ports. The yearly average of foreign 
vessels entered during the last five years is 
eight thousand. The number of vessels re- 
ceived and despatched annually aggregates 
about thirty-four thousand. The imports of 
merchandise in 163 1 amounted to about 
twenty-three thousand dollars ; the exports in 



MA NHA TTAN. 185 

the same year, twenty-seven thousand dollars. 
In the year 1891 nearly six million dollars' 
worth of merchandise was received, and near- 
ly four million dollars' worth of material was 
exported. The first wharf was constructed in 
1648, when the population of New York num- 
bered less than one thousand. In 1687 the 
total shipping amounted to but three ships and 
fifteen sloops and barks. In 1807 Fulton's 
steamboat, the "Clermont," made its first trip 
to Albany, in thirty-two hours. The first 
steamship, the " Savannah," crossed the Atlan- 
tic in 1 8 19, taking twenty-five days, the usual 
time for fast clipper-ships having been from 
sixteen to twenty-one days. 

J E ANNETTE Park is a Small space between 
Pearl Street and the river, above Broad Street, 
— formerly designated " Coenties Slip," in 
honor of an influential Dutch shoemaker 
whose shop once occupied a corner in this 
locality. Here stood the clumsy stone tavern, 
or city hall, of the Dutch administration. A 
corporation pier, erected at this point in 175 i, 
was the first public improvement for which 
money w^as borrowed, the bond given having 
borne an interest of six per cent. 

The water front, from the Battery to Fulton 
Street, is artificially-made ground, the natural 
riverside having been at Pearl Street, along 



i86 



MANHATTAN. 



which the little village of New Amsterdam 
first extended itself. This was a favorite local- 
ity for markets, the old " Fly Market " having 




THE OLD STADTHUYS. 



been the most celebrated. The Dutch word 
vly, meaning valley, was the original appella- 
tion. Near Fulton Street the first ferr}^ to 
Long Island was established in 1638, a small 
skiff having been used to convey the passen- 
gers, who sometimes had to wait an entire 
day before crossing. 

Brooklyn Bridge, the history and propor- 
tions of which already have been described, 
spans the East River as it bends eastward, 
and is seen to crreat advantagfe from the boat. 

A little distance beyond, at the Brooklyn 
side, the steamer passes the United States 
Navy Yard, situated in Wallabout Bay, the 
name of which is a corruption of *' Waale 



MA Nil A TTAN, 



187 



Boght." The United States. Naval Lyceum 
and the United States Marine Hospital are 
located at this point. Preparations for ship- 
building are conducted within the enormous 
sheds near the river; the cob-dock occupies 
the bay. 

Corlear's Hook. — This point of land, be- 
low Grand Street and opposite the Navy Yard, 
has been called Corlear's Hook since Stuyve- 
sant granted the property to one sturdy Van 
Corlear, for faithful services rendered. In 
1643 3- number of Indians having encamped 
at this place, awakened the fear of the white 
settlers, who surprised the red men at mid- 




THE FIRST FERRY FROM NEW YORK TO LONG ISLAND. 



night, killing over thirty and inflicting atro- 
cious barbarities. This action was the direct 
cause of the revolt of eleven tribes of previ- 



l88 MANHATTAN. 

ously peaceful Indians. The locality now is 
headquarters for the most daring river 
thieves. 

Bellevue Hospital, at 26th Street, is easily 
discerned from the river. The Morgue, where 
dead bodies are left for identification, is near 
the water's edge. 

Kip's Bay. — According to Washington Irv- 
ing, this indentation at the foot of 36th Street 
received its name from the following advent- 
ure; " ... At the bow of the commodore's 
boat was stationed a very valiant man named 
Hendrick Kip. . . . No sooner did he behold 
these varlet heathens" (Indians) " then he 
trembled with excessive valor, and although a 
good half mile distant, he seized a musketoon 
that lay at hand and, turning away his head, 
fired it most intrepidly in the face of the 
blessed sun. The blundering weapon re- 
coiled and gave the valiant Kip an ignominious 
kick, which laid him prostrate with uplifted 
heels in the bottom of the boat. But such was 
the effect of this tremendous fire that the wild 
men of the woods, struck with consternation, 
seized hastily upon their paddles and shot 
away into one of the deep inlets of the Long 
Island shore. 

" This signal victory gave new spirits to the 
voyagers; and in honor of the achievement 



MANHATTAN. 189 

they gave the name of the valiant Kip to the 
surrounding bay." 

It was here that the British landed when, in 
September 1776, they made their first attack 
on Washington's army, and caused the precip- 
itate retreat of American soldiers stationed at 
this point. 

Long Island City, which begins directly 
opposite Kip's Bay, and extends northward for 
a considerable distance, comprises the formerly 
separated districts of Ravens wood, Astoria, 
and Hunter's Point, — a locality occupied by 
oil-refineries and factories. The former sec- 
tions, however, contain country villas and 
handsome residences, and do not in reality 
fuse with their hardworking sister. 

Blackwell's Island. — This long and 
narrow strip of land, the next point of in- 
terest on the route, was once the country 
seat of John Manning, the captain in charge 
of the fort at the time of its capture by the 
Dutch in 1673. A more delightful place of 
residence scarcely can be imagined. Graceful 
in form, with moss-covered rocks, swaying 
trees, flowers, and abundance of greensward, 
this charming island was a home of which its 
owner might well be proud. It was not until 
1828 that the city purchased the property for 
its charitable and correctional institutions. 



19° MANHATTAN. 

These now include the charity hospital, pen- 
itentiary, almshouse, hospital for incurables, 
female lunatic asylum, convalescent hospital, 
workhouse, and blind asylum. The buildings 
all have been constructed of stone quarried 
from the island by convict labor; the general 
style of architecture is somewhat feudal in 
its character. Residences occupied by the 
officials in charge are surrounded with lawns 
and gardens, that are kept in perfect order by 
the inmates of the prison, almshouse, etc. 
These individuals also farm certain portions 
of this fertile land, row the officials and their 
families to and from the city, and have built 
and kept in repair the heavy granite sea-wall 
that protects the shores of the entire one hun- 
dred and twenty acres of land. 

Hell Gate. — This celebrated strait is en- 
tered shortly after leaving Blackwell's Island. 
By reason of numerous rocks, shelves, and 
whirlpools, — known under the various appella- 
tions of "Flood Rock," "Negrohead," "Grid- 
iron," " Hogsback" (on which his satanic maj- 
esty often was seen astride), "Fryingpan," (in 
which the same well-known individual always 
cooked his fish before a storm), "Pot Rock," 
etc., — this narrow passage was very dangerous 
to shipping, and only could be entered with 
skilful pilots. Since 1876, however, the 



ATA NHA TTAN. 1 9 1 

channel has been opened, the United States 
Government having expended nearly two 
millions of dollars to render it safe. The 
final explosion of this great work occurred 
at Flood Rock in 1885, at which time over 
fifty-two thousand pounds of dynamite were 
used. 

Ward's Island, at the left of Hell Gate, 
contains about two hundred acres of ground 
owned by the city, the Commissioners of Emi- 
gration, and private individuals. Under the 
care of the city are the insane asylums for 
males, and the homoeopathic hospital here lo- 
cated. A lunatic asylum, houses of refuge, and 
a hospital and nursery for children, constitute 
the buildings in which sick and destitute aliens 
are cared for. There is also a home for inva- 
lid soldiers who served in the regiments raised 
by the city during the late war. These build- 
ings are all substantial, and some of them are 
highly ornamental. Groves of fine old shade 
trees cover portions of these structures, adding 
greatly to the appearance of the island. A 
sea-wall, which was constructed by convicts 
from Blackwell's Island, also girts this prop- 
erty. The grading and general improvements 
have been done by this same class of labor. 

Randall's Island, which lies between 
Ward's Island and the mainland, consists of 



192 



MAN HA TTAN. 



one hundred acres of city property, hand- 
somely laid out and ornamented with sh-ade 
trees. An idiot asylum, nursery, hospital, and 
schools, are placed here by the city, in order to 
provide for the wants of its destitute children. 
A house of refuge, under the charge of the 
Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delin- 
quents, is at the southern end of the island. 
In this institution children who have been 




RANDALL S ISLAND. 



sentenced by the city magistrates aie taught 
to work, as well as instructed in all the com- 
mon-school branches. Passes must be obtained 
from the Commissioners of Public Charities 
and Correction, in their building at the corner 
of Third Avenue and nth Street, in order to 
visit any of the institutions on these last-men- 
tioned islands. A special permit is required 
for the lunatic asylum on Ward's Island. A 



MA NHA TTAN. 193 

ferry conveys passengers to these localities 
from the foot of East 26th Street. 

The Channel at the south of Randall's 
Island, is called Little Hell Gate, the one at 
the north is the Bronx Kills. Several islands 
lie clustered within the embrace of the West- 
chester and Long Island shores, where the 
waters of the Sound begin. A fort at Throgg's 
Neck, and another one at Willet's Point, 
command this entrance to New York. Along 
the northern shore is Pelham Bay Park, a tract 
of land containing seventeen hundred acres 
of beautifully wooded territory, recently pur- 
chased by the city. 

City Island is noted as the place where 
American oyster culture first began. Hart's 
Island belongs to New York City, and is occu- 
pied by the Potter's Field, a branch workhouse, 
and a lunatic asylum. David's Island was 
purchased by the Government in 1869, but was 
used as a hospital-station during the War of 
the Rebellion. It is now a receiving-station 
for recruits. 

Glen Island. — At this picturesque resort 
it will be fitting to terminate the labors and 
pleasures of the week. Rest and refreshment 
will be found in cool groves filled with choice 
varieties of rare exotics; and the return to 
13 



194 MA NHA T TA N. 

busier haunts will be at the close of the day, 
when the weary traveller, having learned the 
history of its events and the institutions of its 
present time, can be content to view in the 
half-light, the city which promises such stores 
of wealth for the sightseer of the future. 




•A- ii 



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CHRONOLOGICAL SKETCHES OF THE 
CITY OF NEW YORK. 

1524. — The Island of Manhattan was discovered 
by John De Verrazzani, a Florentine. 

1609. — Hendrik (or Henry) Hudson, a navigator 
in the service of the States General of Holland, 
and the second discoverer of Manhattan Island, 
sailed up the Hudson River to a point a little 
below Albany. 

161 1. — ^The first ships that carried merchandise 
from the North River, the "Little Fox," and 
the " Little Crane, " were sent from Holland 
on a voyage of speculation. 

Three more vessels were at this time fitted 
out for the purpose of establishing trading 
posts on the Hudson River, where furs might 
be collected, thus saving time for the ships 
that crossed the ocean. One of these was 
called "The Tiger," the other two bore the 
name of "The Fortune." 

The first vessel built on the shores of New 
York Harbor, and the first to pass through 
Hell-Gate, was called the " Restless," and may 
be considered as peculiarly entitled to hon- 
orable mention, because it was the means of 
filling many important blanks in the geogra- 
phy of the world. 

16 1 3. — Captain Adrien built four small houses 
and established a fur agency at what is now 
No. 41 Broadway. 

195 



1 96 MANHA TTAN. 

1 6 14. — An expedition from South Virginia, dis- 
patched by Sir Thomas Dale, took possession 
of the infant colony. 

Later in the year, Holland, having regained 
possession of the Island, sent an expedition 
of five vessels, that explored the whole length 
of Long Island, passed np the Hudson and 
Delaware Rivers, and were given the exclu- 
sive right to trade between the Delaware and 
Connecticut Rivers for three years. 

1623. — A charter, under the title of the West 
India Company, went into operation. 

This is considered to have been the era of 
the permanent settlement of New Netherlands. 

1624. — Peter Minuit arrived at Manhattan, in the 
capacity of Director-General of New Nether- 
lands, and organized a provisional govern- 
ment. 

1625. — Three ships and a yacht from Holland, 
brought a number of settlers and one hundred 
head of cattle. 

1626. — Manhattan Island was purchased from the 
Indians, for trinkets worth twenty-four dollars. 

1633. — The first schoolmaster arrived from Hol- 
land. 

The first ship-of-war, " De Soutberg" (the 
Salt Mountain), brought a company of soldiers 
to garrison the stronghold that had just been 
completed on the southern point of the Island. 

1638. — The first ferry crossed the East River to 
Long Island. 

1642. — A church, built of rock stone, which cost 
about one thousand dollars, was erected Avithin 
the walls of the fort. 

The first tavern, " Staadt Herberg," was 
built by the Dutch West India Company at 
Coenties Slip. 



MA NHA TTAN. 197 

1643. — The first deed recorded was for a lot thirty 
by one hundred feet, that was sold for nine 
dollars and fifty cents. 

The wreck of the ship " Princess" occurred 
in Bristol Channel. This was one of the most 
notable maritime events in connection with the 
early history of the city, eighty passengers, 
including the Director-General Kieft, and 
Dominie Bogardus,the first clergyman estab- 
lished in this city, having been drowned. 

Lots were freely given to whoever would 
build in the town. 

1648. — The first wharf was constructed. 

The first ordinance for the prevention of 
fire was passed, after which four fire-wardens, 
or chimney-inspectors, were appointed. 

The settlement contained twelve retail 
dealers. 

1650. — The first lawyer, Dick Van Schelluyne, 
commenced practice. 

165 1. — All persons who were absent from the city 
four months lost their burgher rights. 

1652. — The city of New Amsterdam was incorpor- 
ated. 

The first public school was established in 
the "Stadthuys." 

1654. — Burgomasters received one hundred and 
forty dollars, and the Schepens one himdred 
dollars per annum, for their services. 

1655. — Negroes were purchased from slave-ships 
and taken to Virginia. 

1656. — New Amsterdam contained one thousand 
inhabitants, one hundred and twenty houses, 
and seventeen streets. 

The first survey of the city was confirmed 
by law, 



1 98 MANHA TTAN. 

1657. — The English lang-uage was first recognized 
in New Amsterdam. 

1658. — Stone pavements were laid. The street 
first paved still retains its former name of 
Stone Street. 

The first fire-company, which consisted of 
eight men, was organized. 

Whipping with a rod, and banishment from 
the city, was at this time the punishment for 
theft. 

Hogs running at large, were required to 
have rings in their noses. 

1659. — The first shipwreck on this coast, of which 
there is any account, occurred near Fire 
Island. The name of the ship was " Prince 
Maurice." 

Poor-boxes were customarily introduced at 
weddings. 

Houses were rented for twenty-seven dollars 
per annum. 

The first public auctioneer was appointed. 
One dollar and ten cents was the fee paid 
for the disposal of a lot. 
J 660. — The establishment of a brick-yard was a 
notable event in connection with the archi- 
tectural progress of the city. Before this 
time bricks had been imported from Holland, 
and were considered too expensive to be used, 
except in the construction of chimneys and 
ovens. 

A man living near the Bowery, offered to 
give away his property, for the reason that he 
disliked to ride through two miles of dense 
forest to reach his work. 

It was punishable to call magistrates block- 
heads, on account of an adverse decision. 



MA NHA TTAN. 199 

1663. — The first suicide recorded in the town was 
that of a blacksmith, who hung himself from 
a tree near Collect Pond. 

1664. — New Amsterdam was captured by the Eng- 
lish, and its name was changed to New York. 

Notice was given of a re-organization of 
the municipal government under the direction 
of Mayor, Aldermen, and Sheriff. 
1665. — The first Court of Admiralty, organized 
by Governor Nichols, was convened and held 
in the Stadthuys. 
1670. — A seal of the city was presented by the 
Duke of York. 

Staten Island was purchased for a few 
trinkets. 

The first New York Exchange was estab- 
lished, the members arranging to meet every 
Friday morning, between eleven and twelve 
o'clock, at the bridge which crossed the ditch 
at Broad Street, a locality now known as Ex- 
change Place. 
1673. — A Dutch fleet recaptured the city, in the 
name of the States General of Holland, and 
changed its name to New Orange. 

The first mail between Boston and New 
York was established, " for a more speedy 
intelligence and despatch of affairs." The 
letters were carried by a messenger who made 
the round trip once a month. 

At this time the main portion of the town 
extended from the high ridge of ground at 
Broadway, to the East River, then called Salt 
River. A great dock for vessels, and three 
crescent-shaped forts, were placed along the 
shore. Almost all of the houses presented 
gable ends to the street, 



2 oo A/ A NHA T TA N. 

1674. — A treaty of peace having- been signed by- 
England and Holland, New York was again 
restored to the English. 

Only one Jew and one vSpaniard held prop- 
erty in the city at this period. 

1677. — New York contained three hundred and 
forty-three houses. 

1679. — A bear was killed in an orchard near 
Maiden Lane. 

The first classis was formed, at the sugges- 
tion of the governor, for the purpose of exam- 
ining and ordaining a young Bachelor in 
Divinity, who had been called to the church 
at Newcastle. 

1683. — The city was divided into six wards. 

The " Court of General Sessions of the Peace 
of the city of New York," first called the 
" Court of General Quarter Sessions, " was insti- 
tuted under royal government. 

1686. — The " Dongan Charter," the basis of all 
later charters obtained for this city, was 
granted by James the Second. This declared 
that New York City thenceforth should com- 
prise the entire Island of Manhattan. 

The best house in the city was sold for 
three thousand and five hundred dollars. 

1689. — Information of the accession of William 
and Mary, to the throne was received in New 
York with great satisfaction. The garrison 
was seized by about fifty inhabitants, who 
formed themselves into a committee of safety 
to hold the province in rule until a government 
could be established by the new sovereigns. 
This movement inaugurated a bitter strife 
between factions of the citizens, who con- 
tended for the temporary control, and resulted 
in the ascendency of Leisler, 



MANHATTAN. 201 

1 69 1. — The first Assembly met April 9th. 
Leisler was tried and executed. 

1692. — The first Post Office was established. 

A whipping-post, pillory, and ducking-stool, 
were placed near the City Hall. 

1693. — The first printing press was put in opera- 
tion. 

1696. — Trinity Church Corporation erected its 
first edifice. 

The city contained five hundred and ninety- 
four houses and six thousand inhabitants. 

The Reformed Protestant Dutch Church 
received a charter of incorporation. 

1697. — The first almanac was published. 

1700. — The second City Hall was erected at the 
corner of Nassau and Wall Streets. 

1703. — The " King's Farm," a region of country 
extending northward from Cortlandt Street, 
was granted to Trinity Church Corporation 
by Queen Anne. This gift laid the founda- 
tion for the revenues of that society. 

1709. — A slave market was established at the 
foot of AVall Street. 

1 7 10. — The total annual income of the city was 
two hundred and ninety-four pounds sterling. 
The total expenses were two hundred and 
seventy-four pounds. 

A post-office establishment for the colonies 
in America was created by an Act of Parlia- 
ment, the chief office of which was in New 
York. 

17 12. — The negro inhabitants formed a plot to 
set fire to the city, and in its execution killed 
several white persons. Nineteen of the incen- 
diaries were convicted and executed. 

1 7 19. — The first Presbyterian Church was erected 
in Wall Street. 



2 o 2 MA NHA T TA N. 

1720. — Clocks were first introduced, time having 

previously been recorded by hour-glasses. 
1725. — The first newspaper, called XhQ New York 

Gazette^ was published. 
1729 — ^A City Library was founded. 
1730- — The charter upon which the city's present 

system of government is based, was granted 

by Governor Montgomery. 

A line of stages, that made bi-monthly 

trips, was established between New York and 

Philadelphia. 

The first fire-engines used in the city 

arrived from London. A fire-department was 

at once organized. 
1732. — The first stage from New York to Boston 

made the round trip once a month. 
1734. — K Poor- House, and a Calaboose for unruly 

slaves, were erected on the Commons, now 

City-Hall Park. 
1740. — The New York Society-Library was or- 
ganized. 
1 74 1. — The famous delusion, known as the " Negro 

Plot, " in which a large number of negroes, and 

a Catholic priest, were executed without cause, 

occasioned much excitement. 
1750. — The first theatre was opened in Nassau 

Street. 
1754. — King's College obtained a charter of in- 
corporation. 
1756. — The first ferry plied between New York 

and Staten Island. 
1757. — The city contained about twelve thousand 

inhabitants. 
1 76 1. — A second theatre was opened in Beekman 

Street. 
1763- — Light first gleamed from the Sandy Hook 

lighthouse. 



MA NIIA TTA M. 203 

A ferry was established between New York 
and Paulus Hook, — now Jersey City. 

1765. — The famous wStamp-Act Congress convened 
in this city. Delegates were present from all 
the colonies, and a bold declaration of rights 
and grievances was adopted. An agreement 
not to import goods from Great Britain, tmtil 
the Stamp Act was repealed, was signed by 
a large concourse of merchants, and a society 
of individuals, who called themselves the 
"Sons of Liberty," was organized, with affili- 
ations throughout the country. Great excite- 
ment prevailed, and a riot occurred, in which 
the governor was burned in effigy, and the 
citizens threatened to storm the fort. 

1766. — News of the repeal of the Stamp Act 
reached the city May 20th. 

The Methodist Episcopal vSociety of the 
United States was founded by Philip Embury, 
in his own house in this city. 

1768. — A Chamber of Commerce was organized at 
Queen's Head Tavern, the building afterward 
known as "Fraunce's Tavern." 

1770. — The New York Chamber of Commerce was 
incorporated by the Legislature. 

A statue of William Pitt was erected in 
William Street. 

1772. — Umbrellas were imported from India. 
They were at first scouted as an effeminacy. 

1774. — A vessel called the "Nancy" was not per- 
mitted to land her cargo of tea, nor to make 
entry at the Custom- House. 

A Committee of Correspondence was organ- 
ized, and a " Congress of Colonies" was insist- 
ed upon by the merchants. 

Resolutions of resistance were adopted by 



204 MANHA TTAN. 

a great meeting on the Commons, now City- 
Hall Park. 
1775. — The Colonial Assembly adjourned. 

Delegates were elected to the Continental 
Congress. 

The first New York water-works were 
established. 
1776. — The militia was called into service in Jan- 
uary. In the spring following, the city was 
in the possession of the American Army. 

The leaden statue of George the Third was 
pulled down July 9th. 

The Declaration of Independence was read 
from the balcony of the old City Hall, July 
i8th. 

The king's coat-of-arms was taken from 
the court-room and burned on the same day. 

The city was captured by the British, 
August 26th, after the battle of Long Island. 

A great fire destroyed Trinity Church and 
nearly five hundred houses, September 21st. 

Nathan Hale was executed as a spy, by 
command of General Howe. 
1777. — Congress directed the Board of War to 
write to the government of New York, urging 
that the lead mines in that State be worked, 
and promising to supply prisoners of war for 
the purpose; the scarcity of lead making it 
necessary to use gutters and roofs, and the 
leaden statue of King George the Third, for 
bullets. 
1778. — The British evacuated Philadelphia, and 
an army of twelve thousand men marched 
from that city to New York. The baggage 
and stores, with some three thousand non- 
combatants who held to their British alle- 
giance, were sent to New York by water. 



MANHATTAN 205 

1779. — While the city was in the possession of 
the British, counterfeiting- Continental bills 
was a regular business ; flags of truce were 
made use of to put it in circulation, and the 
newspapers openly advertised it. 

On the 19th of May, at eleven in the morn- 
ing, a darkness, which continued for several 
hours, necessitating candles at noon-day, fell 
over the city. The cause of this remarkable 
phenomenon has been assigned to prodigious 
fires, that had been raging in the States of 
Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire. 

1780. — A great scarcity of fuel and fresh provisions 
caused general consternation. Fruit trees 
were cut down, wood was twenty dollars a 
cord, corn was four dollars, and potatoes were 
two dollars a bushel. As the ice in the Hud- 
son River offered an opportunity for the 
Americans to cross it, an attack upon the city 
was feared, and all the inhabitants were put 
under arms. 

Four newspapers were published during 
the time of the British occupation, the pro- 
prietors arranging their issues so that one 
paper was provided for each day. 

1783. — The British evacuated the city November 
25th, and General Washington entered at the 
head of the American Army. 

1785. — Congress moved from Philadelphia to New 
York, and convened in the City Hall, which 
then stood at the corner of Wall and Nassau 
Streets, now occupied by the United States 
Sub-Treasury Building. 

The Bank of New York and a manumission 
society were established. 

The first daily paper was published under 
the name of the New York Daily Advertiser. 



206 MANHA TTAN. 

1786. — The first city directory was issued. It 
contained eight hundred and forty-six names. 

1787.— King's College was re-incorporated as Co- 
lumbia College. 

1788. — The Constitution of the United States was 
adopted by New York State. A great parade 
celebrated that event in this city 

1789. — The first Congress under the Constitution 
of the United States, assembled in Federal 
Hall on the 4th of March, at which time 
George Washington was unanimously elected 
President. 

The inauguration of Washington, as Presi- 
dent of the United States, took place April 
30th, on the gallery of the old City Hall. 

Martha Washington held her first reception 
May 29th. 

Tammany Society, or the Columbian Order, 
was founded. 

1790. — The first sidewalks were laid. 

1795. — Park Theatre was erected. 

1797. — The "Medical Repository," the first scien- 
tific periodical printed in this country, was 
published. 

1799. — The Manhattan Company, organized for 
the purpose of supplying the city with water, 
obtained its charter. The Bronx River, 
proposed as the source of supply, was surveyed. 
The second bank, the Manhattan Company, 
was established at No. 23 Wall Street. 

1800. — Collect Pond was filled in. This body of 
fresh water, situated on the present site of 
the Tombs, was of such great depth that 
several contractors, who engaged to fill it, 
were said to have become bankrupt in their 
efforts to do so. Many times earth rose above 
its level in the evening, but the next morning's 



MA A' 11 A TTAN, 207 

sun shone again on sparkling waters, the 
debris having disappeared beneath its surface. 

On its western borders, surrounded by 
groves of trees and blackberry wilds, once was 
situated an Indian village, no doubt the home 
of the Manhattans. Fish were abundant in 
the pond for more than one hundred years 
after the Christian settlement of the Island, 
and one of its promontories was so abundantly 
strewn with a deposit of shells that the Dutch 
named it " Kalchook," or " Lime Shell Point." 
The water w^as of unusual purity, the cele- 
brated Tea-water Spring having been one of 
its many fountains, and a number of brooks 
that flowed to both rivers, formed picturesque 
outlets for its seemingly inexhaustible supply. 
Doubtless the stoppage of these springs had 
much to do with the subsequent epidemics of 
yellow fever that occasioned so much mourn- 
ing throughout the city. 
1 80 1. — The real and personal property of the city 
and county was valued at $21,964,037, and a 
tax was laid of one mill on the dollar. 

The Evening Post issued its first number. 
1804. — Alexander Hamilton was killed in a duel 
with Aaron Burr. 

Sunday-schools were established. 

Hackney coaches were licensed. 

The first recorder of New York City was 
appointed. 

Some alterations in the franchise having 
opened elections to the participation of a 
large number, whom property restrictions had 
previously prevented from having a voice in 
the choice of the city magistrates, this year, 
for the first time, witnessed a Republican 
majority in the Board. 



2 o8 MA NHA T TA N. 

1805. — Fort Clinton was erected. 

The New York Free School was incorpor- 
ated. 
1806. — Steam navigation was successfully demon- 
strated by Robert Fulton. 

The New York Orphan Asylum Society 
was founded. Mrs. Sarah Hoffman and Mrs. 
Alexander Hamilton were the first and second 
directresses. 
1807. — The city was surveyed and laid out, by a 
commission appointed by the Legislature, in 
which Gouverneur Morris, DeWitt Clinton, and 
other prominent persons were active members. 
The city contained thirty-one benevolent 
institutions. 

A College of Physicians and Surgeons was 
chartered. 

Washington Irving, distinguished as a heed- 
less law-student, was admitted to the bar. 
1808. — The American Academy of Fine Arts was 

incorporated. 
181 1. — The first ferry carried passengers to 

Hoboken. 
181 2. — War was declared against Great Britain. 

Steam was utilized on the Jersey City ferry- 
boats. 

The manufacture of i^ins was inaugurated 
in the city by English workmen, who procured 
one dollar a paper for their product. 
1 814. — Brooklyn ferry-boats adopted steam. 

Specie payments were suspended for nearly 
three years. 
181 5. — New York received with enthusiasm, the 
news of a treaty of peace between the United 
States and Great Britain. 

Thirteen Insurance Companies were located 
in Wall Street. 



MA NHA TTAJV. 209 

18 16. — The Common Council of New York pro- 
hibited chimney-sweepers from crying their 
trade in the streets. 

Enormous importations of merchandise from 
Europe rendered this year a memorable one 
among commercial men. 
181 7. — The first regular packet-ships, called the 
Black Ball Line, sailed between New York 
and Liverpool. 

An Asylum for the deaf and dumb was in- 
corporated. 
1818. — Shoe pegs were introduced. 
1 81 9. — The first ocean steamship, the " Savannah," 
crossed the Atlantic from New York to Liver- 
pool. 

The first Savings Bank was opened, 
1820. — The population of New York was one hun- 
dred and twenty-three thousand, seven hun- 
dred and six. 

New York and New Orleans were connected 
by a line of steamships. 

The N'e^u York Observer was published. 
Fire-proof safes, constructed of iron and 
wood, were imported from France. 

Daily mails were established between New 
York, and Brooklyn and Jamaica, Long Island. 
The Old Park Theatre was burned. 
182 1. — In January, the North River from Cortlandt 
Street to Jersey City, was crossed on the ice by 
loaded sleighs. 
1822. — New York, with other counties, had a sepa- 
rate District Attorney. 

A steamship line carried passengers and 
freight between New York and Norfolk. 
1823.— The first steam-power printing press in 
the United States was put in operation. An 
14 



2IO AIANHATTAN. 

abridgement of Murray's English Grammai 
was the first work done by this machine. 

The New York G^is-Light Company was 
incorporated. 
1824. — A House of Refuge for the reformation of 
juvenile delinquents was erected by private 
subscription. This was the beginning of a 
new system for the correction of the vices of 
the young. 

General Lafayette was welcomed with great 
rejoicing as the guest of the city and nation. 
1825. — October 26th, the sound of cannon, first 
heard at Buffalo, and then repeated from 
point to point, announced the completion of the 
Erie Canal, and the union of the Great Lakes 
with the Atlantic. The arrival in New York 
City of the first canal-boat was the occasion 
of a grand aquatic and civil pageant, in which 
the " commingling of the waters, " was typical- 
• ly illustrated by Governor De Witt Clinton, 
the *' Father of the Canal, " who, amidst impres- 
sive ceremonies, poured from a keg the water 
of Lake Erie, into the ocean at the Narrows. 

The first Sunday newspaper published in 
this city was issued under the name of the 
Sunday Courier. It was soon discontinued for 
want of patronage. 

The first performance of Italian Opera was 
given at the Park Theatre. 

Homoeopathy was introduced by a physi- 
cian from Denmark. 

The tinder-box,, which had been the imple- 
ment used for lighting fires, was superseded 
by a bottle filled with acid and cotton, and 
surmounted by phosphorized pine sticks. 

The quintal of one hundred, instead of one 
hundred and twelve pounds, was adopted by 



MA Nil A TTAJV. 2 1 1 

the merchantvS as the new measure for purchase 
and sale. 

Gas mains were laid in Broadway. 
1827. — The Journal of Co??wierce and the Morning 
Inquirer were started. These two papers, 
in their efforts to rival each other, established 
swift schooners and pony-expresses for the 
purpose of obtaining- the commercial news. 
1828. — The Law Institute was organized. 

Webster's Dictionary was published. 

Varnish was first manufactured. 
1829. — The American Institute was incorporated, 
and held its first fair. 

Bricks were manufactured by machinery. 

Galvanized iron was invented. 
1830. — 'A railroad locomotive, the first one con- 
structed in America, was built in New York 
for a railroad in South Carolina. 

Omnibuses were introduced. The word 
"omnibus," painted in large letters on both 
sides of the vehicle, was generally supposed 
to be that of the owner. 

The Christian Intelligencer^ an organ of the 
Dutch Reformed Church, published its first 
number. 
1 83 1. — A street railroad was completed, and opened 
for travel, between the City Hall and 14th 
Street. 

The first sporting paper, called The Spirit 
of the Times, was issued. 

The New York and Harlem Railroad Com- 
pany was incorporated. 
1832. — Peter Cooper, the philanthropist, demon- 
strated to the stockholders of the Albany and 
Schenectady Railroad, that cars could be 
drawn around short curves. 



2 1 2 MA NHA T TA N. 

Five thousand persons died from Asiatic 
cholera. 
1S33. — The New York Sun, a penny paper, was 

published. 
1834. — A meeting of the American Anti-Slavery 
Society was broken up by a mob 

In conformity with an amendment of the 
Constitution, a mayor of New York was elected, 
for the first time by the votes of the people. 
1835. — The Neiu York I/era/d was founded. 

Pins were manufactured by machinery. 

A disastrous conflagration, destroying prop- 
erty to the extent of twenty millions of dol- 
lars, was checked only by blowing up several 
houses. 
1836. — Work on the aqueduct was begun. 

The Common Council ordered pipes to be 
laid, preparatory to the introduction of water 
into the city. 

Commercial distress and financial panic 
spread over the whole country, and swept 
numerous firms out of existence. 
1840. — A manufactory of gold pens was estab- 
lished. 

The New York Tribune, edited by Horace 
Greely, was published. The receipts of this 
paper for the first week, were ninety-two 
dollars; the expenses amounted to five hun- 
dred and twenty-five dollars. 
1841. — The *' Princeton," a ship-of-war, w^as con- 
structed by John Ericsson. This was the first 
ship in which the propelling machinery was 
placed under water, and secured from shot. 
1842. — Abolitionists declared a separate nom- 
ination, held a State Convention, and ran a 
candidate for the mayoralty of New York. 

June 27th, water was received through the 



MA NHA TTAN. 213 

aqueduct into the reservoir at 86th Street, 
July 4th, it was introduced into the distribut- 
ing-reservoir on Murray Hill; while waving 
flags, clanging bells, floral canopies, and songs, 
proclaimed the great interest which this event 
awakened. The fountain in the park, opposite 
the Astor House, consisted of a central pipe 
with eighteen subordinate jets, in a basin one 
hundred feet broad. By shifting the plate of 
the conduit pipe, the water assumed such 
shapes as the " Maid of the Mist, " the " Croton 
Plume," the "Vase," the "Dome," the "Bou- 
quet,"' the " vSheaf of Wheat," and the " Weep- 
ing Willow. ' 

A similar display in Union Square, then 
called Union Park, was a weeping willow of 
crystal drops illuminated with fireworks 
that kindled the cloud of mist until it resem- 
bled showers of many colored gems. 

1843. — A submarine telegraph connected New 
York with Fire Island and Coney Island. 

A patent for a sewing machine that made a 
lasting stitch, was granted to a resident of the 
city. 

1844. — An enormous immigration poured in from 
Ireland and other European countries, in con- 
sequence of famine and political disturbances. 

1845. —A disastrous fire occurred, which destroyed 
a large amount of property. 

1846. — The first granite- block pavement was laid. 

1847. — The first sucessful type-revolving press was 
made by a resident of the city. 

The Board of Education took action in 
reference to the establishment of a Free 
Academy. This was the first institution, 
maintained at the public expense, by which 
the pupils of the New York schools could 



2 1 4 Jl/J XHA T TA N. 

secure the advantages of those higher depart- 
ments of learning, usually obtained at great 
expense in the colleges. 
1848. — The first Electric Telegraph Service was 

inaugurated. 
1849. — The " Astor Place Riot" occurred. 

The New York Press Association was 
formed. 

The phenomenon of spirit-rapping caused 
much excitement. 
1850. — P. T. Barnum introduced Jenny Lind to 
an enraptured audience. 

An Arctic expedition sailed from New 
York in search of Franklin. 

The American Bible Union was organized. 

1 85 1. — Kossuth, the Hungarian patriot, visited 

the city and received an enthusiastic welcome. 

The New York Times appeared. 

1853. — An International World's Fair was held in 

the Crystal Palace. 

The New York Clearing House was organ- 
ized by fifty-two of the city banks 
1854. — The Astor Library was opened to the pub- 
lic. 
1855. — Castle Garden was utilized as a receiving- 
depot for emigrants. 

The ground for Central Park was selected by 
commissioners appointed by the Supreme 
Court. 
1857. — An unsuccessful attempt to lay the Atlan- 
tic Cable was made, the wire parting when 
but three hundred and thirty-four miles had 
been paid out. 
1858. — The successful laying of the Atlantic Cable 
was announced, and celebrated by public dem- 
onstration. 

Crystal Palace was burned, 



MANHATTAN. 215 

The voice of Adelina Patti was heard for the 
first time in public. The cantatrice had not 
then attained her seventeenth year. 

i860. — The secession of South Carolina caused 
much consternation in business circles. 

The Prince of Wales and his suite were wel- 
comed with elaborate ceremony. 

The Japanese Embassy visited the city. 

1 86 1. — Central Park was opened to the public. 

The banks, having loaned enormous sums 
of money to the Government, suspended specie 
payments, after the attack upon Fort Sumter. 

1863. — A draft in progress in the Ninth District, 
caused a riot among foreign laborers, who 
attacked the recruiting office, destroyed the 
wheel, scattered the lists, and set the building 
on fire. As the militia had been sent to Phil- 
adelphia to resist a Confederate invasion, the 
police were unaided, and could not suppress 
the demonstration for several days. One 
hundred persons were killed, and a large 
amount of property was destroyed. 

1865. — News of the surrender of General Lee and 
the Confederate Army caused great rejoicing. 
Banners streamed in the wind, the national 
colors were displayed in great profusion, 
sweet bells chimed the airs of peace, the 
sound of cannon rolled over the water of the 
rivers and the bay, and the atmosphere was 
filled with the general gladness and mirth of 
the people. 

One week from the time when peace was 
restored to the country, the body of President 
Lincoln was laid in state in the City Hall, the 
"Saviour of his Country" having been shot 
by an assassin, while in his box at the theatre 
in Washington. The tri-colored decorations 



2i6 MANHATTAN. 

of the city were at once exchanged for the 
sombre hues of woe. 

1867. — In January, five thousand persons crossed 
over a bridge of ice that had formed in the 
East River between New York and Brooklyn. 
A short experimental section of the Ninth 
Avenue Elevated Railroad was opened for 
travel. 

1869. — .The American Museum of Natural History 
was incorporated. 

The Telegraph Messenger Service was or- 
ganized. 

1870. — The Metropolitan Museum of Art received 
its charter. 

1872. — A committee of seventy was appointed to 
investigate the extent of the depredations 
made by Tweed and his *' Ring," and to bring 
those criminals to justice. 

1873. — The business interests of the city were 
paralyzed by a panic of unusual severity. 

Morrisania, West Farms and Kingsbridge, 
three villages that covered an area nearly 
doubling that of the city, were annexed. 

The city charter was amended, and many 
important modifications were made on prev- 
ious enactments. 

1875. — 'Fourth Avenue was improved at a cost of 
six millions of dollars, an expense shared 
equally by the city and the New York Central 
Railroad Company. 

1876. — The one hundredth anniversary of the 
signing of the Declaration of Independence, 
celebrated by a World's Fair at Philadelphia, 
brought many visitors to the city. Exhi- 
bitions of loaned paintings, held in the Acad- 
emy of Design and the Metropolitan Museum 
of Art 4iU'ing the summer season, made the 



MANHA TTAN. 217 

year a memorable one to the lovers of fine 
art. 

Hell Gate channel was opened. 

1878. — The streets were lighted by electric arc- 
lamps. 

1879. — The Central-Station Telephone service was 
put in operation. 

1880. — Four elevated railroad lines were com- 
pleted, and in operation. 

1 88 1. — The city, with the nation, was called to 
mourn the death of President Garfield, who 
was assassinated in Washington by an insane 
person. 

The current was first turned on for the In- 
candescent Lamp Service. 

Four hundred and forty-four newspapers 
and periodicals were published. 

1883. — East River Bridge was opened to the pub- 
lic. 

The statue of Washington, now standing 
upon the steps of the Sub-Treasury Building 
in Wall Street, was presented to the United 
States Government by the New York Chamber 
of Commerce, on the occasion of the one hun- 
dredth anniversary of the British evacuation 
of New York. 

1888. — The city was visited by a storm of wind 
and snow that for several days shut off almost 
all communication with the surrounding 
country, and resulted in much suffering and 
many deaths. 

1889. — An elaborate pageant, commemorating the 
first inauguration of a President of the 
United States, arrayed New York in holiday 
attire, and provided for its citizens three days 
of patriotic display and memorable pleasure. 
The programme included civil and relig- 



2i8 MANHATTAN. 

ious ceremonies, a naval, a military, and a 
civil parade, and terminated with a great 
ball at the Metropolitan Opera House. It is 
estimated that three million strangers visited 
the city during the time of this celebration. 
1890. — The population of the city, as reported in 
the United States census, has been as follows : 

1790 zz.-^z^ 

1800 60,489 

1810 96,373 

1820 123,706 

1830 197,112 

1840 312,710 

1850 515,547 

i860 813,669 

1870 942,292 

1880. 1,206,299 

1890 1,515,301 

An enumeration made by the police, under 
the unanimous resolution of the Common 
Council, showed the population of 1890 to 
have been 1,710,715. 

The credit obtained by the city was illus- 
trated by an achievement never before 
reached in the history of municipal finance, 
bonds bearing interest at two and one-half 
per cent, having been sold in the open market 
at a premium of one and one-eighth per cent. 

A " strike" by the engineers of the New York 
Central Railroad closed transportation over 
that route for several days. 
1 89 1. — A Cable Railroad was laid from the Bat- 
tery to Central Park. 



GENERAL HISTORY OF THE SOCIAL 

DEVELOPMENT OF THE CITY OF 

NEW YORK. 

The appearance, customs, and manners, of the 
people who occupied Manhattan Island before the 
coming of the white settlers, were so distinct from 
those of other nations known to the civilized 
world, and their individual character had so little 
in common with the more restrained and law-abid- 
ing Europeans, that they were classed among 
those wild and lawless races who, it was supposed, 
had few of the affections and higher emotions of 
humanity. Later experience, however, has shown 
that under the advantages of education and moral 
culture, the American Indian is capable of high 
attainments in all that distinguishes the best traits 
of human character. 

The huts or wigwams of these Aborigines 
w^ere made of two rows of upright saplings, with 
the branches brought together at the top. Upon 
this frame- work a lathing of boughs was fastened, 
and the inside was nicely covered by strips of bark 
that afforded a good protection from wind and 
rain. The ground was the only flooring these 
habitations contained, and on this fires were 
kindled, the smoke escaping through an aperture 
in the roof. The width of the wigwams was al- 
ways twenty feet, the length varied according to 
the number of persons that they were designed to 
accommodate. Sometimes twenty or thirty fam. 
ilies occupied the same apartment, each retain. 

219 



2 20 MANHATTAN. 

ing an allotted space. In time of war a fence or 
stockade, from ten to fifteen feet in height, pro- 
tected the villages. 

The Manhattan Indians are described as having 
been tall, small at the waist, with black or dark- 
brown eyes, snow-white teeth and cinnamon- 
colored skins. They were active and sprightly, 
though probably of less average strength than 
Europeans of the same size. While eating they 
sat upon the ground, taking the food with their 
fingers. In their dress they were fond of display, 
both sexes indulging in this taste to an extrava- 
gant degree. Some of the highly ornamented 
petticoats of the women were sold to the early 
settlers for eighty dollars. The men wore upon 
their shoulders a mantle of deer-skin, with the fur 
next to their bodies, the outside of the garment ex- 
hibiting a variety of painted designs. Sometimes 
these queer people decorated themselves with many 
colors and patterns. In "full paint" they were 
both grotesque and frightful. The procurement 
of food, which consisted of nuts, fruit, fish, and 
game, was the usual employment in time of peace. 
The bow and arrow were the implements used in 
hunting. It is said that the Indian boys attained 
great skill with these weapons, being able to hit a 
shilling at a distance of fifty feet. This singular 
expertness was a wonder to the white settlers, who 
sometimes excited emulation among them by toss- 
ing up a purse of money to be claimed by whoever 
could hit it in the air. 

After death the Indians were placed sitting, in 
graves lined with boughs, and covered with stones 
and earth. By their side were deposited cooking 
utensils, money, and food, in order that the spirit 
might want for nothing on its journey to the 
" Happ5^ Hunting Grounds." 



MANHATTAN, 221 

The original name for the Island was Monaton, 
a word descriptive of the whirlpool at Hell Gate, — 
the most striking geographical feature of the re- 
gion, — and the appellation by which the earliest 
inhabitants designated themselves was " Mon-a- 
tuns, " or " People of the Whirlpool." Manhattan 
is the Anglicized term. 

FROM 1613 TO 1664. 

Some of the early settlers adopted the bark cab- 
ins of the savages, while others dwelt tempor- 
arily in roofed cellars. After a saw-mill was built 
near a stream that emptied into the East River op- 
posite Blackwell's Island, these pioneers construct- 
ed one-story log dwellings, the roofs of which 
were thatched with straw, and the chimneys made 




DUTCH DWELLINGS IN NEW AMSTERDAM. 

of wood. The windows admitted light through 
oiled paper. 

As the little town of New Amsterdam increased 
in size, its habitations assumed a more substantial 
and comfortable aspect, tiles, shingles, and even 
brick, having been used for the most elaborate res- 



2 2 2 MA NHA T TA N. 

idences. The houses were built in the Low 
Dutch style, with the gable ends toward the street, 
the tops indented like stairs, the roofs surmounted 
by a weathercock, and the walls clamped with iron 
designed in the form of letters, (usually the in- 
itials of the proprietor's name), and in figures in- 
dicating the year when the building was erected. 
Every house was surrounded with a garden in 
which both flowers and vegetables were cultivated. 
Cows and swine were abundant, but horses were 
very rare. Inside, the floors were strewn with clean 
sand. Cupboards and chests that held the pewter 
plate, or household linen, were the main orna- 
ments of the best room, and as wealth increased, 
some of these displayed china tea-sets, and pieces 
of solid silver. 

According to Lossing: "Clocks and watches 
were almost unknown, and time was measured by 
sun-dials and hour-glasses. The habits of the 
people were so regular that they did not need 
clocks and watches. At nine o'clock they all said 
their prayers and went to bed. They arose at 
cock-crowing, and breakfasted before sunrise. 
Dinner-parties were unknown, but tea-parties 
were frequent. These ended, the participants 
went home in time to attend to the milking of the 
cows. In every house were spinning-wheels, and 
it was the pride of every family to have an ample 
supply of home-made linen and woollen cloth. 
The women spun and wove, and were steadily em- 
ployed. Nobody was idle. Nobody was anxious 
to get rich, while all practised thrift and frugality. 
Books were rare luxuries, and in most houses the 
bible and prayer-book constituted the stock of lit- 
erature. The weekly discourses of the clergyman 
satisfied their intellectual wants, while their own 
hands, industriously employed, furnished all their 






I 



I 



MANHATTAN. 223 

physical necessities. Knitting and spinning- held 
the place of whist and music in these " degenerate 
days/' and utility was as plainly stamped upon all 
their labors and pleasures as is the maker's name 
on our silver spoons. These were the " good old 
days" of simplicity, comparative innocence, and 
positive ignorance, when the "commonalty" no 
more suspected the earth of the caper of turning 
over like a ball of yarn every day than Stuyvesant 
did the Puritans of candor and honesty." 

Most of the streets were paved to the width of 
ten feet from the fronts of the houses, the middle 
space containing pablic wells, and being left with- 
out pavement, for the more easy absorption of 
water. Brick pathways, called "strookes," were 
laid in place of sidewalks. Public markets were 
quite numerous, the supply having been received 
from the fertile section of country on the northern 
portion of the Island, where the farmers located a 
village called New Harlem. The road to this 
settlement was little more than an Indian trail 
leading through the woods, and becoming impass- 
able in many seasons. 

As to the character of these founders of the city 
of New York, they were deliberate, but deter- 
mined. Much time was spent in examining every 
project before it was ventured upon, but when 
once undertaken it was carried out with a spirit of 
force and persistence to which later generations 
are deeply indebted. 

With regard to the people of Holland, Mrs. 
Martha Lamb, in her " History of New York," as- 
serts : " In no country were the domestic and social 
ties of life discharged with greater precision. It 
matters not that chroniclers have made the Dutch 
subjects of unmerited depreciation. It has been 
stated that they were characterized only by slow- 



2 24 MANHATTAN. 

ness ; and that the land was barren of invention, 
progress or ideas. The seeds of error and pre- 
judice thus sown bear little fruit after the read- 
ing- of a few chapters of genuine contemporar}^ 
personal description. As a rule the Hollanders 
were not inclined to take the initiative in trade or 
politics, and were distinguished for solidity rather 
than brilliancy ; but it is absurd to say they were 
unequal to the origination of any new thing. We 
find among them many of the most illustrious men 
of modern Europe, — politicians, warriors, scholars, 
artists, and divines. Wealth was widely diffused ; 
learning was held in high respect ; and eloquence, 
courage and public spirit were characteristic of the 
race. For nearly a century after the Dutch Re- 
public took its place among independent nations, 
it swayed the balance of European politics ; and 
the acumen and culture of the leading statesmen 
elicited universal deference and admiration. For 
an index to the private life of the upper classes, 
we need to take a peep into the richly furnished 
apartments of their stately mansions, or walk 
through their summer-houses and choice conserva- 
tories and famous picture galleries. As for the 
peasantry, they were neat to a fault and indus- 
trious, as well as frugal." 

It will not be amiss in this connection to quote 
from the historian Broadhead, who says about the 
women of Holland ; " The purity of morals and de- 
corum of manners for which the Dutch have ever 
been conspicuous, may be most justly ascribed to 
the happy influence of their women, who mingled 
in all the active affairs of life, and were consulted 
with deferential respect. They loved their homes 
and their firesides, but they loved their country 
more. Through all their toils and struggles, the 
calm fortitude of the men of Holland was nobly 



MANHATTAN. 225 

encouraged and sustained by the earnest and un- 
daunted spirit of their mothers and wives. And 
the empire which the female sex obtained was no 
greater than that which their beauty, good sense, 
virtue, and devotion entitled them to hold." 

FROM 1664 TO 1776. 

The advent of the British brought about many 
beneficial changes in the social life of the Island. 
Not only were English habits incorporated into the 
less ambitious character of the Dutch inhabitants, 
but the settlement of many Huguenot families of 
distinction aided materially to produce an atmos- 
phere of culture. Irrepressible social, political, 
and religious, forces were sweeping over the great 
nations of Europe and imbuing the immigrants who 
sought our shores, with a spirit which was to work 
out undreamed of results. Founded upon Dutch 
stubbornness, integrity, and practicality, — supple- 
mented by English inflexibility, sagacity, and 
commercial prosperity, and adorned by French 
refinement and vivacity, — it is no wonder that 
later generations arose to prominence, acquired 
the independence of character that could success- 
fully resist oppression, and developed the ability 
to aid in founding and maintaining a new and 
marvellously prosperous nation. 

As early as 1668 a social club composed of the 
best Dutch, English, and French families, was es- 
tablished. Meetings were held twice every week 
at the different houses, the members coming to- 
gether about six, and separating at nine o'clock in 
the evening. The English governors and their 
suites held elaborate court, observing on all occa- 
sions the strictest etiquette sanctioned by foreign 
custom. Chroniclers love to dwell on this period 
15 



226 MANHATTAN. 

of colonial history, in which the grand dames and 
lordly gentlemen appear in bold relief, not only 
because they were so few, but also for the reason 
that they were of the brightest and best that the 
earth afforded. 

Quite a number of these personages brought 
with them considerable wealth, so that their resi 
dences became somewhat palatial, and adorned 
with furniture and works of art imported from 
Europe. Silver and gold plate, elaborate table 
service, and profuse entertainment, made New 
York hospitality famous even in European circles. 
Many families retired to country homes, where 
they lived in quiet but elegant simplicity, cultiva- 
ting their farms, and entertaining with delightful 
courtesy their visitors from the city or from Euro- 
pean countries. 

The manners and customs of the less favored 
class of citizens were marked by industry, sobri- 
ety, and economy. At their festivals children and 
negroes were permitted the enjoyment of unre- 
strained mirth. Sunday gowns were removed as 
soon as their owners returned from church, and 
consequently were kept in a state of preservation 
which made it possible to hand them down as 
heirlooms. Cocked hats were treated with the 
same deferential regard. To illustrate the ex- 
treme simplicity of habit which prevailed among 
the people of this generation, it is only necessary 
to add that the Rev. Dr. Laidlie preached "right 
lustily against the luxurious abominations of sup- 
pers of chocolate and bread that kept the families 
till nine o'clock at night." This same preacher 
was the first divine who introduced the " outland- 
ish practice of delivering his sermon in English." 

The laws at this period were few, but rigorously 
enforced. A ride on a great wooden horse was 



MANHA TTAN. 



227 











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2 2 8 MA NHA T TA N. 

the most common punishment. Every man 
pleaded his own cause, or what w^as more com- 
mon, said little and let it take its own course. 
The only long speech on record is that of a certain 
pettifogger, who in pleading for the right of geese 
to swim in the pond at the head of " Nieuw " 
Street, did " incontinently cause his client to be 
non-suited, by tiring his worship's patience to 
such a degree that he fell into a deep sleep and 
slept out the remainder of the term." 

The customs and dress of the period immedi- 
ately preceding the Revolution are best described 
by Mrs. Lamb, as follows: "Show and glitter 
marked the distinctions in societ}^ Dress was 
one of the signs and symbols of a gentleman; 
classical lore and ruffled shirts were inseparable. 
It was the habit of the community to take off its 
hat to the gentry; and there was no mistaking 
them wherever they moved. Servants were al- 
ways in livery, which in many instances was gor- 
geous in the extreme. Gentlemen appeared in 
the streets in velvet or satin coats, with white 
embroidered vests of rare beauty, small clothes 
and gorgeously resplendent buckles, their heads 
crowned with powdered wigs and cocked hats. A 
lady's toilet was equally astounding; the court 
hoop was in vogue, brocaded silks of brilliant col- 
ors, and a mountain of powdered hair surmounted 
with flowers or feathers. Although it is a fact 
worthy of remembrance that servants were ser- 
vants in those days, and never assumed to copy or 
excel their mistresses in the style and costliness 
of their attire, the democratic hammer already sus- 
pended over the doomed city was to subdue the 
taste and change the whole aspfect of the empire 
of fashion," 

At the time of the war, "Washington's guard 



A/ A NHA TTAN. 229 

wore blue coats faced with buff, red waistcoats, 
buckskin breeches, black felt hats bound with 
white tape, and bayonet and body belts of white. 
. Hunting shirts — "the martial aversion of the red- 
coat" — with breeches of same, with cloth gaiter- 
fashion about the legs, were seen on every side, 
and being convenient garments for a campaign- 
ing country, were soon adopted by the British 
themselves. This was the origin of the modern 
trouser or pantaloon. " 

FROM 1783 TO THE PRESENT TIME. 

After the evacuation of the British and the restor- 
ation of peace, the city occupied itself incessantly 
with the work of reconstruction. During the resi- 
dence of the chief executive the same punctilious 
ceremony was observed that had marked the Eng- 
lish occupancy. The staid Knickerbocker element 
also dominated sufficiently to-hold in check many 
tendencies that grew with marvellous rapidity 
under the stimulus of newly acquired independ- 
ence, and the friction of a cosmopolitan life. 

There is little to relate of special mannerism 
from this time. The increase of population dif- 
ferentiated social life into circles, each of which 
preserved its special code, and this tendency has 
of course increased until the present time, when 
innumerable cliques separate society, or draw to- 
gether those whose temperaments and occupations 
make them congenial to each other. 

The commercial development of the metropolis 
during the present century is a subject upon which 
volumes might be written and the half not told; 
indeed, the history of this period contains little 
else, although educational institutions have kept 
pace with the phenomenal prosperity. Efforts to 



230 MANHATTAN. 

encourage scholarship have been many and well 
founded, and the patronage of art has been liberal, 
advances steadily, and tends permanently to ele- 
vate the public taste. 

At the present time the city extends from the 
Battery to Yonkers, including an area of forty 
and one-third square miles within its corporate 
limits. This territory is divided into twenty-four 
wards, designated by numbers, and into nearly 
one hundred and fifty thousand lots. Thirty-nine 
public parks, exclusive of triangles and small 
spaces, occupy a combined area of four thousand, 
eight hundred and forty-one acres. Pelham Bay 
Park, a tract consisting of seventeen hundred acres 
of forest land, with nine miles of water front 
along the Sound, has but recently been acquired. 
The annual appropriation for the maintenance of 
these pleasure resorts exceeds one million dollars. 

The main configuration of the leading thorough- 
fares from the ancient " Copsie " or Battery, 
northward to the park, and thence to Harlem, 
Bloomingdale, and onward, were the old post-roads 
over which travellers passed to Boston and Al- 
bany. These highways followed the primary In- 
dian trails. 

There are now in New York from fifty to sixty 
thousand business firms, nearly one hundred and 
twenty thousand buildings, forty-five first-class 
theatres, two hundred first-class hotels, three 
thousand apartment-houses, five thousand clubs, 
societies, etc., six hundred and forty-nine news- 
papers and periodicals, fifty-three public libraries, 
very nearly five hundred churches, three hundred 
and thirty-seven thousand, three hundred and six- 
teen tenement houses, and forty-three cemeteries. 

As to the future of the city, who can estimate 
its gigantic possibilities? Already the population 



MA NHA TTAN. 231 

is SO dense as to render the present facilities for 
transportation quite inadequate. At the present 
moment there are no less than ten projects under 
discussion, or in process of construction, for con- 
veying passengers and freight to and from New 
York and Long Island, or Jersey City, by way of 
vast bridges over the intervening rivers, or by 
tunnels under them. Rapid transit in every case 
is to be a certain result if these efforts achieve 
successful issues, and the constant pressure of ne- 
cessity will doubtless insure a speedy completion 
for some of them. 

The creation of a so-called " Greater New York, " 
by the consolidation into one municipality of New 
York, Brooklyn, Staten Island, a portion of West- 
chester County, and a large area on Long Island, 
is a plan which awakens general interest at the 
present moment. The area of the consolidation 
would be three hundred and eighteen square miles, 
— a territory roughly estimated to include a radius 
of sixteen miles from the City Hall, (with the ex- 
ception of that portion which lies within the State 
of New Jersey). The community would then be 
composed of three millions of people controlled 
by a central government. 

Great educational institutions also contemplate 
the combination of their forces. New and beauti- 
ful edifices that will accommodate the growing 
demand for scholastic opportunities, soon are to 
be erected upon favorable sites uptown. Public 
buildings are to be discarded for more commodi- 
ous quarters, and as many of these are required 
to be located in central parts of the city, familiar 
landmarks again must disappear, and nothing be 
left to the decay of age. 

The march of progress brings w^ith it as well, 
active individuals eager to promote the public 



232 MAXHATTAX. 

good. Reformatory measures are inaugurated, — 
men and women both investigating deeply in 
order to better understand the methods whereby 
their wise ends may be gained, — and best of all, 
the voice of an ever-increasing multitude making 
itself heard in affairs, assures us that a diffused 
and widespread interest exists. This it is which 
surely promises in the time to come, a city the 
like of which has never yet been seen. 



WESTOVER & SON 



COLLECTORS OF 



Mineral and Geological 

SPECIMENS 

Shells, Corals and Mosses 

FROM THE PACIFIC COAST 

ORDERS PROMPTLY FILLED. 

ADDRESS ALL COMMUNICATIONS TO 

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FOR 

MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS 

A 

COMPLETE GUIDE FOR THE HOUSEHOLD 

BY 

Mrs. E. G. COOK, M. D. 

ILLUSTRATED WITH NUMEROUS PLATES, EXPLANATORY 
OF THE TEXT. 



One volume, ismo, cloth, gilt, price, $1.50. 



There is now no doubt in the minds of intelligent persons 
that the great prevalence of disease and want of health found 
among the women of this and all civilized countries, is due almost . 
entirely, if not absolutely to a want of knowledge of the laws of 
life and health. So prevalent is this condition that it is fast 
becoming what might be called a "fad" for women among the 
better class to submit to surgical operations for the removal of 
diseased conditions, in spite of the fact, that in the administration 
of anaesthetics, lives are always risked, and a record of the cases 
that are rendered worse, if not fatal, as the result of the "cutting," 
" scraping," and "removing" that is done would be appalling. 

Let the women of our land study the laws of health as laid 
down in Dr. Cook's work, and learn to obey them, and a great 
change for the better would soon be made. 

Bishop John H. Vincent, of Chatauqua fame, in speaking of 
this work says : 

"The volume by Mrs, Dr. Cook is the result of native 
insight, profound study and prolonged experience. It is the work 
of a woman who knows woman. She has been a girl, wife, 
mother, student, and medical practitioner, and has given her best 
years and many of them to the momentous problems which per- 
tain to her sex, and which sustain such an intimate relation to the 
other sex. It is my deliberate judgment that this book should be 
read carefully by every woman in the land." 



Sent postpaid on receipt of price by addressmg the author at 

917 



917 BroaclwaQ,New York, 



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